When They Came
by TheTimeTraveler24
Summary: The day after the Titan War ends, changes start to happen. For some reason they seem to happen around Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Nico di Angelo. As they enter the next war, it's up to these three to make sure it ends right. Time travel.
1. Arrival

The day they came was a Tuesday.

Tuesday was particularly memorable for more reasons than that. Tuesday was the day Hestia destroyed Kronos' scythe. Tuesday was the day Luke Castellan destroyed Kronos. Tuesday was the day Camp Half-Blood held off the Titan Army in Manhattan. Tuesday was the day Nico di Angelo and his father Hades fought to save Olympus. Tuesday was the day Poseidon helped defeat Typhon. Tuesday was the day Rachel Elizabeth Dare became the new Oracle of Delphi. Tuesday was the day Percy Jackson gave up godhood in favor of forcing the gods to claim their children. Tuesday was the day the Great Prophecy was fulfilled. Tuesday was the day the new Great Prophecy was made. And Tuesday was the day Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase finally started dating.

But they came on Tuesday too.

August 18, 2009, marked the end of the Titan War and everything that came with wars ending. It was mourning and celebrations. It was supposed to be the beginning of peace.

Tuesday was the day the fight ended, but Tuesday was the day everything finally went to Hades.

It wasn't so much of an obvious arrival. No, they only realized the arrival happened on Tuesday much later. But there was a change in the Camp. A sudden breeze or whisper, and a feeling inside each demigods' gut.

It was the dreams too.

They all had been through a lot during the war, and no one could argue that Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and Grover Underwood who had been there at the very end had gotten the worst of it all. But it was not enough to warrant the dreams.

At 10:00 PM on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, the screams started. No one knew why, but Percy and Annabeth were screaming in their sleep.

Nico di Angelo was staying in the Poseidon cabin with Percy until he finished construction on the new Hades cabin. He seemed to know exactly what to do. It shouldn't have been possible considering how tired he was after fighting monsters the whole day, but he managed to shadow travel himself and Percy into the Athena cabin where they were met with confused and scared Athena kids. He quickly woke the two screaming demigods up.

Percy's eyes seemed much older. He barely registered his surroundings.

"Excuse us," Percy said firmly, dragging Annabeth and Nico out of the cabin.

Annabeth did not return to the Athena cabin that night.

Wednesday, August 19, brought something new. Annabeth and Percy walked into the dining pavilion hand in hand. They sat down together at the Poseidon table despite the rules of not being able to sit at a different cabin's table.

Chiron raised an eyebrow, but the events of last night had clearly reached him because he said nothing. At least not in front of everyone.

Then there was the subtle change in Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades had been very much secluded prior to the end of the war, however, he was seemingly trying to make an effort to be more sociable. For one, he started to smile and laugh however small when he was with Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia. For two, through some mutual understanding of some kind that was unseen by the other campers, he and Will Solace started a strange kind of friendship that was so unlikely to work that it worked just fine.

And so it continued throughout the rest of the summer until the very last day of camp for the campers that went back to school.

Percy and Annabeth seemed much too reluctant to leave. They had flat out told Chiron they were going to share Poseidon's cabin and if he wanted to argue with them they would like to see him sleep at night with the nightmares that plagued them. Chiron must have understood, because he went deathly pale and nothing more was spoken of the subject. This would be the first time they would leave the security of the camp.

Percy's goodbyes were strange too. He gave Nico a long hug and made him promise.

"Hazel," Percy said seriously, looking into Nico's eyes. "And don't tell me anything. Promise?"

Nico looked reluctant to do so. "Promises worry me."

Percy scowled at nothing. "Well you don't have to worry." His eyes flickered with a dark shadow. "Don't go looking either. Annabeth and I will figure it out."

Annabeth's eyes seemed to darken for a moment. "We'll see you in June."

Nico nodded. "See you then." He allowed a small smile. "I've got to go soon then. And, yeah, I promise. Just don't hurt me when you see me."

"No promises," Percy said with a grin. "But I'll remember this conversation, so we're all good."

"You're leaving?" Will asked Nico.

Nico shrugged. "For a while. I'll probably pop in from time to time. But I've missed a lot. Lot of world to see. Getting old sucks," he said, referring to his actual age.

Percy and Will snickered, while Annabeth sighed.

"Iris message us," Annabeth told Nico. "Don't be a stranger."

"Bye, Annabeth," Nico said wryly. "Later, Will."

"What about me?" Percy asked looking offended.

Nico eyed him dubiously. "Eh, still not my type," he said before melting into the shadows. A ghost of his laugh echoed.

Percy sputtered before stalking away.

"Bye, Chiron," Percy said to the centaur. "It's been real."

Chiron looked startled. "Are you not returning next summer?"

"I'll be back," Percy promised. "Annabeth will kill me if I don't come back."

Annabeth nodded to confirm this. "Yep. So don't do anything stupid, Seaweed Brain."

Percy turned to face the group of campers as a whole. He raised a hand.

"Bye, everyone!" he shouted. Then he spread his middle and ring fingers. "Live long and prosper!"

Annabeth just shook her head before pulling her boyfriend out of the camp's borders. "Come on, Percy. If we don't hurry it'll be December before we get out of here."

It was small things like that too that indicated the arrival of something new. Inside jokes that weren't very funny to those in the know. Someone would say something and look at someone else, but the joke they very clearly shared was no laughing matter.

When they came, it was not obvious. When they came, there was no celebrations for the knowledge they brought. When they came, no one knew to care.

Time passed on. Year round campers trained. Some new campers arrived. The new cabins were finished. The months passed by. September, October, November, December.

Then Annabeth showed up. Her eyes sought out Nico because he seemed to be in on the whole thing. He gave her a terse shake of his head.

"Percy's missing," Annabeth announced in the middle of dinner. "Chiron, we have to talk."

She marched off to the Big House, stunned centaur following her a moment later.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so this story was originally posted on my AO3 account. It's doing pretty good there, so I wanted to see how well it does here. ****Anyway, tell me how you liked it.**


	2. A Tale of Heroes (Annabeth II)

Whatever Annabeth has been expecting, it certainly wasn't this. Sure she knew that certain events were much more likely to happen in the same order, but for the love of the gods, couldn't this be an even that didn't have to happen?

When she had realized Percy was missing, she had automatically told Sally and Paul who, thanks to her, were now out of their minds with worry. Never mind that she assured them that everything was going to be fine because her reasoning of "it's a feeling" would not have been reassuring to her the first time.

"Percy's missing. Chiron, we need to talk."

She hadn't even waited to see if he would follow her. Considering the news she had just blurted about the all powerful son of Poseidon going missing, the centaur might be frozen in shock.

Annabeth waited patiently in the Big House.

"I decided to tag along," Nico announced as he followed Chiron into the room usually reserved for Head Counselor meetings. "I figured I could help you do what I think you're going to do."

The underlying message of I remember how bad it was before, let me be there for you , was clear. Annabeth appreciated it.

"What could possibly be happening?" Chiron asked her urgently. "Percy is missing you said? I need to know what happened? Where could he have gone?"

Annabeth held up a hand. "At this moment, I have no idea where he is. In June he should be somewhere in California. But that's beside the point." She exhaled sharply. "You know how I said Percy and I had been to a place no demigod has ever survived on our quest to save the world? I wasn't being exactly truthful. However hard to believe it might be, last summer after Kronos was defeated… Percy, Nico, and I just kinda… woke up."

"Not in the sense that we were asleep," Nico added. "More like we suddenly had these moments flashing before our eyes and then BAM!" He clapped his hands together, startling Chiron. "It was like a whole new set of memories."

Chiron's eyes narrowed. "I think I understand what you're saying. What you are describing… it sounds a lot like time travel to me, but time… that's my father's domain."

"I don't know why we came back," Annabeth admitted. "It wasn't him . I don't think there's enough of him to do anything right now. When Percy and I were down there, I could feel the monsters, but I never felt anything from him ."

"Down there? Di immortales!" Chiron exclaimed. "You were in Tartarus?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah. Not my idea of a picnic. Anyway, point is, Hera's taken Percy and hidden him away until she can do her whole exchange camper program. Percy will go to the Roman camp and Jason is suppose to come here to the Greek camp."

"Hera plays a dangerous game," Chiron said lowly. "The camps have been separated for years. However, I suppose everything turns out for the better?"

Annabeth's face darkened. "It did for some of us. The Seven of the prophecy that is. Then everything kind of…"

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong," Nico finished for her.

.

_Percy's nosebleed flashed before her eyes. It shouldn't have mattered. What was a small insignificant nosebleed compared to the numerous gashed and injuries Percy had taken over the years._

_But the blood of Olympus was all Gaea needed to wake._

_They rushed to Camp Half-Blood as fast as they could which was faster than they ever thought possible considering Zeus chucked them across the world._

_When the Seven arrived at Camp Half-Blood, the Greeks and Romans were united against Gaea and her monsters. For a moment it looked like they were winning._

_Leo snatched Gaea from the Earth and shot into the sky on Festus. Jason and Piper were quick to follow. Annabeth prayed to every god and goddess she could name off the top of her head that this would work._

_A fireball was launched into the sky at Leo who was still holding Gaea captive. Jason and Piper were free falling towards the ground. The fireball climbed higher and higher. It shot past Leo and Festus by inches. Then the world ended._

_"FOOLISH HEROES," Gaea's voice rang out._

_And suddenly the ground was no longer solid. It was a shifting mass. And then the gods and goddesses appeared, frantically grabbing hold of as many demigods as they could._

_"No! Nico don't you dare!" Annabeth could hear someone shout. Was that Will Solace? "Nico! Ni-" She didn't want to know why his voice cut off. Either a god had disappeared with the young son of Apollo, Nico had shadow traveled Will, or Will was…_

_"Annabeth!" That was Percy. He stumbled towards her, feet fumbling over the shifting ground. "Come on! We have to get off the ground."_

_"Agreed." Jason looked exhausted. He had Piper tightly against his left side. "I'll give you a lift."_

_Percy pushed Annabeth towards him. "Take Annabeth! I'll find my dad."_

_An explosion rocked the sky above them._

_"Leo!" Piper shrieked._

_Jason wrapped his right arm around Annabeth and shot off into the sky with one last look at Percy._

_Whether it was the shock of it all or the fact that Jason had left Percy, Annabeth passed out. When she came too, there was silence. Well, not quite. Hushed whispers in the silence would be more accurate._

_"You're awake!" Percy grinned. "Just in time. We're about to meet to discuss battle plans."_

_Annabeth sat up. She was in a hospital bed. "Battle what? Percy, what happened?"_

_Percy's smile fell. "What do you remember?"_

_"Gaea," Annabeth murmured. "The Earth wasn't gods… they came to help us escape, right? Where are we, Percy?"_

_"Surprised you don't recognize your own handiwork," a subdued voice said. The man had dull blonde hair, but he looked familiar. "You're on Olympus."_

_"Apollo got let out of time out," Percy explained. He looked sad. "It's all hands on deck now. The gods got most of us out in time, but… not all."_

_"Nico," Annabeth mumbled. "I heard Will Solace yelling at Nico. Are… are they okay?"_

_"Nico's fine," Percy answered. "He will be at least. He shadow traveled himself, Will, and Lou Ellen to Olympus as soon as he realized what was happening. From what I heard, Will flipped out about it. I think he's waiting for Nico to be an actual substantial thing before he beats him up. I guess Nico wasn't supposed to do that anymore." He didn't say anything else._

_The walk to Athena's temple was quiet. Percy had explained that the battle planning was done in the temple of the wisdom goddess, but said little else._

_"Daughter," Athena greeted._

_But Annabeth's eyes were on the group of her friends from the prophecy. Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel. Leo was missing. What had happened before she passed out? Piper had yelled something. She yelled for Leo. Leo wasn't here, and the Seven looked much more miserable than anyone else. Leo was dead. Of that she was sure._

_"Mom," Annabeth acknowledged, chin trembling. Before she could stop herself, Annabeth threw herself at her mother and sobbed into her shoulder._

_Athena said nothing as she hugged her brightest daughter._

_"How long do we have?" Aphrodite, the most serious Annabeth's ever seen her be, asked Athena._

_Athena finally let go of Annabeth. She contemplated the answer. "A few weeks if not days," she replied finally. "We have in our charge half the Greek campers and half the Roman campers. They are all mortal and require food. We aren't prepared to handle that. Ambrosia and nectar will only hold them over for half a week at most. Us gods will last longer, but eventually we'll fade."_

_"We'll do a supply run," Percy said forcefully. "You said we can last on ambrosia for a few days. We just need to last until Jason or Nico are fully healed. Jason can fly, Nico can shadow travel."_

_"Nico won't be awake for a few more days at best let alone capable of shadow traveling," Apollo argued. "I'm doing my best, but he needs rest. Jason might be able to grab a few snacks if he goes alone, but I don't recommend it yet."_

_"How did this happen?" a Roman girl asked softly._

_Piper glared at Percy and Annabeth. "Ask them! It was their blood that woke her up!"_

_"What did you expect?" Percy spat. "We were fighting monsters, Piper! When you fight monsters, you get hurt, okay? Don't blame us for something that we had no control over!"_

_"If your stupid nose hadn't started bleeding, Leo would be alive!" Piper shouted. "Leo's dead because you woke up Gaea!"_

_"Enough!" Reyna shouted over the yelling. She addressed both camps. "Fighting gets us nowhere. What's done is done. If it was not Percy or Annabeth, it would have been one of us at Camp Half-Blood. We are stuck on Olympus because the Earth is going to swallow us whole if we go down there. The only way we can get out of this is to work together. Percy had a good idea."_

_Jason nodded. "I can grab a few bags of chips and candy from gas stations and stuff. A trip everyday. We last as long as we can on ambrosia, then start on the real food. Should have a good stock pile by then."_

_Artemis looked at Ares. "We will train the heroes. My brother is needed in the infirmary." She looked at Thalia. "Gather the hunters. I want them to assist in archery practice."_

_Thalia nodded. "Of course." She dipped her head in respect before leaving the temple in search of the hunters._

.

"We stayed on Olympus for a month," Annabeth said quietly. "Artemis and Ares trained us until we were dead on our feet everyday. That's when the giants attacked. They forced their way into Olympus. We would kill them and they would just keep coming back."

"It was two weeks before the giants retreated," Nico added. "They weren't getting anywhere, and we were stranded in Olympus. What did they have to fear?"

Chiron listened sadly. "How did you come back here?" he asked gently.

Annabeth shook her head. "We don't know."

An iris message shimmered to life in front of Chiron. A familiar face looked at them.

"I've got two," the satyr said to Chiron. "A lot older than they should be."

"Gleeson," Chiron sighed. "You startled me. Have they shown any indication of knowing who they are?"

Coach Hedge shook his head. "Not yet, but they're pretty powerful. And there's definitely a monster somewhere. I don't know where though."

Chiron nodded. "Keep an eye on them, and keep me updated. We'll send someone if things get worse."

"How old are they?" Annabeth blurted. "Who are they?"

Coach Hedge gave her a strange look. "Who are you?"

"Forgive, Annabeth," Chiron said. "She's just curious. Although, I must admit my curiosity as well. How old are they?"

"The boy, Leo Valdez, is fifteen, and the girl, Piper McLean, is also fifteen," Coach Hedge explained.

Nico let out a low curse. "They should have been claimed. Percy made them promise."

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said sharply. "Nico, let's go." She lead the son of Hades out of the Big House and down towards the beach. With a glance around to make sure they were alone, Annabeth said, "You need to go. You can't be here when they arrive."

Nico twisted his silver skull ring. "Yeah. I know. I'll Iris message you when he shows up." He headed back towards the main area of Camp. Probably to say bye to Will.

"Is it true then?"

Annabeth glanced behind her at Clarisse. "Thought you went home for break."

"Chiron asked me back for a few days," Clarisse answered, crossing her arms. "So? Prissy's gone?"

"I'll find him," Annabeth said forcefully. She stood up and walked off.


	3. Underwhelming Rescue Party (Jason III)

Jason watched the chariot land. Two teenagers were riding it. Both had orange t-shirts and shields. One guy was bulky with a shaved head. The girl was tall and blonde. She looked angry which didn't bode well since from what Jason understood, they were supposed to be part of this extraction squad Coach Hedge was talking about.

"Where's your protector, Gleeson Hedge?" the girl asked them.

The coach's first name was Gleeson? Jason might've laughed if the morning hadn't been quite so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?

Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some … tornado things."

"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."

The blonde girl's eyes flicked toward him. "Anemoi thuellai. That's the Greek term. Who are you? What happened?"

Jason tried to explain what happened, but given that his memory was practically non-existent, he felt like he was failing to meet this girl's standards of explanation. It was proven true when the blonde girl glared at the ground.

"He should have been here!" she growled. She clenched her fists together. "She told me I'd find the answer here!"

Upon further inspection, Jason noticed the girl had bloodshot eyes and dark bags. For whatever reason, this girl had not been sleeping well for a while.

"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out." He pointed at Jason's feet.

Jason hadn't thought much about it, but he was still missing his left shoe, which had been blown off by the lightning. His bare foot felt okay, but it looked like a lump of charcoal.

"The guy with one shoe," said the bald dude. "He's the answer."

"No, Butch," the girl insisted. "He can't be. I was tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she screamed. "Bring him back!"

The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.

"Annabeth," said the bald dude, Butch, "we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

She fumed for a moment. "Fine." She fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later." She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.

Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"

"Seriously," Leo agreed.

"We have to get you out of here," Butch said. "I'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her." Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You gotta cut her some slack. Her boyfriend's been missing for three days now. She's… it's been difficult for her." He shifted awkwardly as if he was saying something he shouldn't be. "She hasn't slept in three days, but she said she had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"Who is he?" Piper asked curiously.

"His name's Percy Jackson," Butch answered.

.

Crashing into the lake was not fun. Jason personally thought Annabeth was crazy to suggest it, but regardless of the craziness of it, they survived. For a daughter of the wisdom goddess, Annabeth seemed to be less than sane.

Annabeth passed out in the water. Jason and Butch helped drag her out of the water. A detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blowers and blew them all dry. Annabeth was still unconscious.

"Annabeth!" A guy with a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the growing crowd. "Oh gods! Is she okay?"

Butch grunted. "Passed out in the water. Finally. Just wish it didn't happen in the water."

The guy nodded sympathetically. "I'll take her to the infirmary. Kayla!" he called someone in the crowd. "Get Clovis. Tell him to meet me."

A girl with shocking green hair nodded and rushed off.

The guys shouldered Annabeth, but looked around in confusion. "No Percy?"

"Wasn't there," Butch confirmed. The campers groaned. "Sorry about the chariot, Will."

Will waved it off. "It's fine. We can fix it." His eyes finally landed on Jason, Piper, and Leo. "These guys? But they're way older than thirteen. I thought Percy made the gods promise to claim their kids."

"Claimed?" Leo asked.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Jason thought this Percy Jackson guy might have appeared from thin air. He pictured a teenage boy popping out from behind him saying, Sup. What'd I miss? He quickly banished that thought when he saw the red light like someone had lit a torch behind him. He turned and gasped too.

Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image of a fiery hammer.

"That's claiming," Will said. He glanced at the crowd nervously.

"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Will snapped. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?" All eyes turned to him.

"Jason," Butch said carefully, "how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Will said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"

Will looked at Butch. "Can you give Leo a tour and show him to Cabin Nine? I'd do it, but I'm not sure how long she'll be asleep."

Butch nodded. "Sure thing."

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Butch put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.

Will turned back to Jason and Piper. "Follow me. Chiron wants to see you," he told Jason.

.

As it turned out, the infirmary was next to the Big House where this Chiron was. Will put Annabeth in a bed where a sleepy looking kid was waiting.

"I'll take care of it," the boy yawned. "Might need to force her to dream if she gets bad nightmares."

Will nodded. "Just make sure she gets rested."

When they entered the Big House, a strange sight greeted them. A man stood there, but his lower half was the lower half of a horse. His eyes hardened when they saw Jason. It made Jason squirm a little. Every instinct in him was screaming that he should run as far away as he could.

"Thank you, Will," the centaur said. "Could you show Piper to the Hermes cabin?"

Will winced. "Uh, Annabeth's asleep. I have Clovis watching her, but I want to be close. Wanted to IM Nico, too. See if he can do anything. Sorry, Chiron."

Chiron frowned. "Ah. Well, then you better get going. Where is Mr. di Angelo?"

"With his dad," Will answered tightly. "Dunno why. He hates his stepmom."

Chiron didn't say anything, but Jason thought there might be something the centaur knew and wasn't telling Will.

* * *

**A/N: Obviously Jason both has no memory and does not know Annabeth's secret. I think I'm going to skip over the Lost Hero and the Son of Neptune since those would pretty much play out the same regardless. Do some more with Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, and Hazel though.**

**As for telling others... Chiron was a necessity I think. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine that the characters that time traveled immediately tell their friends. Like if Harry Potter straight up just tells the whole Order of the Phoenix that he time traveled to end the war earlier or whatever instead of telling just Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius, and Remus or something like that for example.**


	4. Bigger Boat (Leo IV)

Leo wasn't sure when he noticed the strange things that seemed to go on at Camp Half-Blood. When he had revealed his plan to build a giant flying boat to sail on to the Roman camp, he knew his fellow demigod campers were reckless enough to try it.

Annabeth had gotten a hold of the blueprints, and when she finally gave them back, Leo noted a slight change in the layout. Two of the bedrooms had been combined into a larger bedroom. And a few guest rooms had been added. He tried not to bring it up around her.

Naturally, he failed at that.

"Why'd you mess with my blueprints?" Leo finally blurted at the first progress meeting.

Annabeth jolted. "What?"

Leo crossed his arms. "For the boat. You changed the layout a little. Why?"

"Because we need extra bedrooms," Annabeth crossed her arms. "You never know what might happen on the quest." Her eyes seemed to dart towards the empty Hades chair for some reason.

"You made one room bigger though!" Leo complained. "I'm not about to be fighting over who gets the biggest room, which by the way, I feel like I deserve that since I'm the one who realized we had to make the boat. You're welcome."

Annabeth said nothing, but she raised an eyebrow challengingly. This kind of made Leo mad.

"Dude, that's Annabeth and Percy's room," Will Solace hissed.

Annabeth and Percy's room , Leo thought. His eyes widened. "Wait, what? You two…"

"No," Annabeth said sharply. "We share a room so we can get some sleep. Otherwise the nightmares get worse. That's final. Don't bring it up."

Judging by the faces of the other Head Counselors, this was not new information. Jason and Piper looked a bit startled at least.

The Stoll brothers looked serious for once. A grim look passed between them. They gave Leo a disapproving look.

"Solace," Clarisse called to Will. "Your boyfriend get any news about the Doors of Death yet?"

Will sputtered. "He's not my boyfriend," he argued. "But no. Nico said he was going to ask his dad once Persephone leaves the Underworld. So probably sometime in April or March?"

Jason grimaced and placed a hand on his head. "Ow. Who's Nico?"

Annabeth frowned. "Jason, is your head alright? You didn't get hurt earlier did you?"

"No, I'm fine," Jason said absently, rubbing his head. "I think my memory is still coming back."

Annabeth passed him an ambrosia square. "Here."

Jason gratefully accepted it. "Nico. Name sounds familiar."

Leo noted Annabeth's avoidance of the question, and how the rest of the counselors let the matter drop. After the fiasco that was his burning question about the blueprints, Leo let the matter drop too.

When Annabeth was inspecting the framework a few weeks later, she muttered to herself as she went through the rooms.

"Percy and I… Jason… Piper… Leo…" she mumbled. "Nico just in case…"

Leo wondered if maybe he should have brought up Nico's name.

* * *

**A/N: ****Little short, but there ya go. I'm really liking this story.**

**I can't remember exactly how it goes in the books, but in my head, two people (three people) do not go through something like Tartarus without having some serious PTSD or something. Nico's got his own way of coping, Percy and Annabeth just need to be close.**


	5. Another Camp (Nico V)

It was silly to hope that his presence had changed things. Don't get him wrong, Nico loved his half-sister and fully intended on rescuing her. But Bianca was his sister, and he had to check.

"I know why you're here."

Nico whirled around, sword out. He let out a huff when he saw who it was. "Dad."

Hades was dressed in his usual black robes. The souls of the dead woven in the fabric stared at Nico.

"She chose rebirth," Hades said.

Nico kicked at the ground. "Yeah. I know. I just… thought I was wrong."

Hades seemed to struggle for a moment. Then he said, "Thanatos is chained. I nearly went to her to tell her that."

"You would have had to ignore her," Nico pointed out. "Once Thanatos has been freed." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his aviator jacket. "I have to go." He walked away from his father.

"There is another camp," Hades blurted.

Nico froze and turned back. "Another camp?"

Hades did not meet Nico's eyes. "A Roman camp. I cannot say much about it. The Roman gods are very much alive, and within us." He grimaced. "My Roman form is Pluto. I want you to find the camp and introduce yourself as my ambassador."

"An ambassador of Pluto," Nico repeated. He had expected this, but until now, he had not thought to question it. "Why? Why now?"

"I have concerns," Hades said simply. "I pray I am wrong, but if I am right, you will need to know about the Romans." He disappeared.

Nico stared at the place where his father had been before heading away. He kept walking until he reached the Fields of Asphodel.

A girl with dark skin and wild, curly brown hair was there wandering around. She seemed almost bored. When she noticed Nico, she gasped.

"You're different," Nico said. "A child of Pluto. You remember your past."

"Yes," she said. "And you're alive."

Nico paused. "I'm Nico di Angelo," he finally said. "Son of… son of Pluto. Death has gone missing. You're my sister, and you deserve another chance. Will you come with me?"

"Hazel Levesque," she introduced herself. "Do you mean you can bring me back to life?"

"I can," Nico nodded. "I'll take you to a safe place. It's a camp for people like us. Demigods."

"Demigods," Hazel tested the word. Then she swallowed. "I… I can't. I'm cursed."

Nico gave her a sad look. _She wasn't cursed. Not in the end_. "The jewels. I know. I'll help you. I… I promise." He winced internally. He hated promises. _An oath to keep with a final breath_. It wasn't the promise to lead the crew to Espirus. It wasn't the promise to help Hazel last time. But there was supposed to be a promise that, according to the prophecy, someone would die trying to keep.

Hazel nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

.

Nico knew exactly where to go. When they left the Underworld, he shadow traveled himself and Hazel to the street across from the entrance to Camp Jupiter. He saw the two guards watching them.

"What was that?" Hazel gasped as a car zoomed past. "Is that a… a car?"

Nico grimaced. "Yeah. About that. The world has come pretty far. It's 2009 right now."

Hazel stared at the world around her with an opened mouth. "Nico, I… I can't do this. I died in the 1940s. How can I just-"

"I'm from the 40s too," Nico interrupted her. "My dad put me and my sister into the Lotus Casino Hotel. Time moves slower in there. I only got out a few years ago. It's a big change, but don't worry, Hazel. You're going to be… you're going to do fine."

"Who are you?" one of the guards asked as Nico and Hazel approached the camp entrance.

Nico looked him dead in the eyes. He hoped it was as unnerving as everyone said it was. "Nico di Angelo. My father sent me here to be his Ambassador. This is my sister Hazel Levesque. We're both children of Pluto."

Both guards' eyes widened. The exchanged nervous looks.

"Follow me," the second guard said quickly. "I'll take you to Reyna and Jason."

Nico flinched, probably noticeable, he thought with a scowl. Of course he would run into Jason. Jason hadn't disappeared yet.

"Michael," a voice said in surprise, knocking Nico out of his thoughts. "What are you doing? Don't you have guard duty?"

With a start, Nico realized the guard was Michael Kahale. Michael removed his helmet. "Praetor Grace. These two appeared at the entrance. They claim to be children of Pluto."

Jason Grace looked different without his glasses, Nico noted.

"State your names please," Jason requested.

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto," Hazel stammered.

Nico exhaled. "Nico di Angelo, son of Pluto. My father sent me to be his Ambassador."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Ambassador of Pluto. You have a relationship with your father, then?"

"I do odd tasks here and there," Nico answered firmly. The same answers he had given before floated to the forefront of his memory. "Collecting rogue spirits and hellhounds mostly."

"Why has he sent you to be his Ambassador?"

"My father has his concerns," Nico stated plainly. "He does not want anything like what happened last summer to happen again."

Jason nodded. "Return to your post, legionnaire. Nico and Hazel, follow me." He lead them to the Principia. "Reyna, two children of Pluto." He gestured to Reyna who was clad in her purple cape and medals. "Nico, Hazel, this is Reyna. Reyna, this is Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque."

"You claim to be children of Pluto," Reyna said with an intrigued look.

Nico nodded. "As I told Praetor Grace, my father sent me here to become his ambassador. Along the way I found Hazel. My father told me who she was."

Reyna still had that distrustful look Nico so fondly remembered from their first meeting. He couldn't help but miss the Roman Praetor's friendship from their journey to deliver the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood.

.

"Where do you disappear to?" Hazel asked Nico.

Nico shrugged. "Wherever. I'm just trying to practice my shadow travel really. I don't want to be in trouble if I ever need to travel a long distance with a heavy load."

Hazel giggled. "You're anticipating a big travel mission?"

"I hope not," Nico answered. "If it ever comes to that… well, it wouldn't be the ideal situation to be in." He cringed internally knowing that he probably just confused Hazel.

"You're always saying things like this," Hazel sighed. "What happened in your past? What haven't you told me?" It went unsaid that he, Nico, knew about Hazel's past because she trusted him. Yet he didn't trust her enough to tell him anything.

Nico looked away. "I told you about Bianca. I want to tell you the rest, Hazel, but I can't. There are certain forces at work. If I interfere… it would be bad."

"Certain forces. Like Jason's disappearance?"

Nico didn't answer, but he thought his silence more or less confirmed Hazel's thinking.

.

The next day, Percy Jackson showed up carrying a goddess.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Annabeth at Camp Half-Blood," Nico said as he tossed a gold drachma into the rainbow he made from the mist spray.

The connection was awful as expected. Iris was a Greek goddess and Nico was calling from a Roman camp. But he could make out Annabeth sitting in the Poseidon cabin alone.

"Annabeth!"

The blonde haired daughter of Athena looked up. She smiled. "Nico! It's good to see you. Will misses you," she added slyly.

Nico scowled. "Well I called to say that I have some important news, but if that's how you want to be, then I'll just go now."

"Okay, fine," Annabeth sighed. "What is it?"

"Percy's here," Nico said.

Annabeth's face lit up. "He is? You're not joking right? He's at Camp Jupiter?"

"Yeah," Nico nodded. "I haven't talked to him yet. I don't know if he remembers me."

"That's okay," Annabeth sighed happily. "Oh gods, Nico. Okay, the ship's almost ready. We'll be setting off on the 24th."

"The Feast of Fortuna," Nico said. "Great. I'll see you then."

"Maybe not," Annabeth bit her lip. "Octavian will be upset if he finds out you're Greek."

"I'm coming with you," Nico said firmly. "I don't really care what Octavian thinks. Also, I gave the eidolons a thought. They're basically ghosts or spirits. You should be able to keep yourselves protected if you wear something made of iron. As long as the iron has skin contact, the eidolons can't possess anyone."

Annabeth thanked Nico and promised to pass on the information. Then she cut the connection.

"Hey," Hazel's voice called. "I've brought a friend."

Nico turned around. Unlike before, he didn't panic upon seeing Percy.

"This is Percy Jackson," Hazel said. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."

Nico held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."

* * *

**A/N: Obviously we don't know how exactly Nico found out about Camp Jupiter, just that Hades told him before he got Hazel. As for the whole thing about the "oath to keep with a final breath," neither Percy nor Annabeth nor Nico really know what that refers to.**

**I know these last few chapters kinda jumped around a bit. Just trying to get some different perspectives in with Jason, Leo, and Nico.**


	6. The Greek Boys (Percy VI)

When he got his memory back, he got his memory back. This time though, he was doubly mad at Hera or Juno or whatever she was going by these days.

Nico was the first to greet him after they fought off the giants. "Hi, Percy."

"Nico," Percy sighed. "Didn't expect you here."

Nico shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, well. I am. I'm going with you guys. I don't really care if the prophecy says otherwise."

"_Wisdom's daughter walks alone / The Mark of Athena burns through Rome / Twins snuff out the angels breath / Who holds the key to endless death / The giants' bane stands gold and pale / Won through pain from a woven jail_," Percy quoted. He looked at Nico disapprovingly. "I'm not asking you to go through all that crap again because it was so crappy. Just… what if by going with us, that's how you get caught?"

"Whatever happens is going to happen," Nico shrugged. "But the Doors of Death… Tartarus… you aren't going to go through that again either. Let me help."

Percy sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

Nico poked his new purple praetor cloak. "Nice cloak, Praetor Jackson."

"I'm resigning tomorrow when Jason get here," Percy scowled. "I still feel like I took it away from him." He shuffled his feet. "Anyway, we have to address the Legion tomorrow before, you know, a giant warship appears."

Nico's expression was unreadable. "Right."

.

The senate met the next day. Percy and Reyna had their praetor outfits. Nico did not wear his black toga which Percy had to admit looked utterly ridiculous. Instead, the son of Hades came dressed in his black jeans and aviator jacket.

"Ambassador of Pluto-" Octavian started.

Nico glared. "Shut up, Octavian. I don't want to wear the stupid toga."

Percy cleared his throat. "Uh, so I'm not really sure how these things go, but in like an hour some demigods are going to arrive on this giant warship. Four demigods to be precise."

"Four of the seven," Hazel added, looking excited. "From the Prophecy of Seven."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Do you know who they are?"

Percy hesitated. "Jason Grace for one."

This sent the senate into an uproar. Senators and Lares were shouting about how Jason was missing for nearly a year and why was he only coming back now.

"Silence!" Hylla shouted. She nodded at her sister.

Reyna took a deep breath. "Thank you, Hylla. Jason is part of the Seven then? I assume you yourself are too, Percy. Do you know who else?"

"Jason and I, yeah," Percy confirmed. "Plus Frank and Hazel. The message I got was from someone named Leo, so I assume he's going. Other than that, I'm not sure."

Nico raised a hand. "I know."

Octavian looked especially deranged, Percy noted. His nostrils flared and his face was an ugly purple.

"How do you just happen to know?" he demanded. "Did your father tell you this as well?"

Nico blinked. "No. If you'd just listen, it would make much more sense. There's another Camp for demigods. It's different than Camp Jupiter though. The other camp is called Camp Half-Blood, and it's a Greek camp."

"That's where Jason is," Percy said quickly. "That's where I came from. Hera, Juno to you all, decided to do an exchange student thing. She switched Jason and I so we could bring the two camps together. The war with Gaea is going to take us working together to win."

Reyna frowned, digesting this. "So in a matter of minutes, a warship built by Jason and these Greeks will arrive to take you along with Centurion Zhang and Hazel Levesque to fulfill the Prophecy of Seven?"

"Exactly," Percy nodded gratefully. "So, yeah. I'm actually a Greek demigod. Son of Poseidon, not Neptune." He looked at Nico. "Can you explain who else is going?"

Nico nodded. "The other three are Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, and Annabeth Chase. Children of Hephestus, Aphrodite, and Athena respectively."

"Annabeth," Percy mumbled with a goofy smile. "I miss her."

"I bet you do, Kelp Head," Nico snorted. "I know she missed you."

Frank looked hesitant. "Uh, Nico? How do you know all this?"

"Oh, well, I went to Camp Half-Blood first," Nico said, looking surprised. "My father is Hades. I am Greek, but he sent me here so I would know about the Roman camp in case something happened."

"Why should we trust these Greeks?" Octavian asked. He looked at Nico suspiciously. "Our own Ambassador to Pluto admits he deceived us. How can we trust that this isn't part of the Greek's plan to destroy us?"

The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll. Meanwhile the sun climbed into the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Octavian a natural spotlight.

"The camp is safe," Octavian continued. "I'll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion's eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?"

"I'm glad you asked." Percy stood, taking the question as an opening.

Octavian stammered, "I wasn't—"

"—part of the quest," Percy said. "Yes, I know. And you're wise to let me explain, since I was."

Some of the senators snickered. Octavian had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed.

"Gaea is waking," Percy said. "We've defeated two of her giants, but that's only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece."

An uneasy ripple spread through the senate.

"I know, I know," Percy said. "You've always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there's a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It has to change if we're to defeat Gaea. That's what the Prophecy of Seven means. Seven demigods, Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together." Percy swallowed back the bitter taste in his mouth. _Bob and Damasen_.

"Ha!" shouted a Lar from the back row. "The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Seven, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?"

Octavian smiled smugly. Some of his allies in the senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some of the veterans looked uncertain.

"I carried Juno across the Tiber," Percy reminded them, speaking as firmly as he could. "She told me that the Prophecy of Seven is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn't serious?"

"He's right," Gwen said from the second row. "I, for one, trust Percy's word. Greek or not, he restored the honor of the legion. You saw him on the battlefield last night. Would anyone here say he is not a true hero of Rome?"

Nobody argued. A few nodded in agreement.

Reyna stood. Percy watched her anxiously. Her opinion could change everything—for better or worse.

"You claim this is a combined quest," she said. "You claim Juno intends for us to work with this—this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for their deceptions."

"Maybe so," Percy said. "But enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?"

Queen Hylla laughed. "He's got a point."

"The demigods of Camp Half-Blood have already been working with Camp Jupiter," Percy said. "We just didn't realize it. During the Titan War last summer, while you were attacking Mount Othrys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. I fought Kronos myself."

Reyna backed up, almost tripping over her toga. "You… what?"

"I know it's hard to believe," Nico said. "But everything we're saying is true."

"Oh, come on!" Octavian shouted. "They're making things up, now. You fought Saturn?" he scoffed.

"_A half-blood of the eldest gods / Shall reach sixteen against all odds ," Nico recited. " And see the world in endless sleep / A hero's soul cursed blade shall reap / A single choice shall end his days / Olympus to preserve or raze_."

"Raze with a z," Percy added. "That was the last Great Prophecy. The half-blood was me, and the hero was… the hero was Luke. Look, we can argue all day about this, or you can trust Nico and me when we say these people are no threat. Are you really willing to fight _Jason Grace_? He's going to be on that ship."

Reyna frowned. "It is a lot to believe. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they're going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn't be worried."

"Yes." Percy looked over the rows of nervous, doubtful spectators. "Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will backup everything I'm telling you. I swear it on my life."

"On your life?" Octavian looked meaningfully at the senate. "We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick."

Right on cue, a messenger rushed into the Senate House, gasping as if he'd run all the way from camp. "Praetors! I'm sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—"

"Ship!" Tyson said happily, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. "Yay!

Sure enough, a Greek warship, the Argo II, appeared out of the clouds, about a half a mile away, descending toward the Senate House. As it got closer, Percy could see bronze shields glinting along the sides, billowing sails, and a familiar-looking figurehead shaped like a metal dragon. On the tallest mast, a big white flag of truce snapped in the wind. To his surprise, a giant smiley face was painted on the bottom with the word "WASSUP" next to it. He held back a smile. Must have been Leo's idea.

"Praetors!" the messenger cried. "What are your orders?"

Octavian shot to his feet. "You need to ask?" His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. "The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!" He jabbed a finger at Percy. "His friends are attacking in a warship. He has led them here. We must attack!"

"No," Percy said firmly. "You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren't enemies. I say we stand ready, but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is not a trick."

All eyes turned toward Reyna.

She studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. If she vetoed Percy's orders…well, he didn't know what would happen. Chaos and confusion, at the very least. Most likely, the Romans would follow her lead. She'd been their leader much longer than Percy.

"Hold your fire," Reyna said. "But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our…new friends."

The senators stampeded out of the auditorium—whether from excitement or panic, Percy wasn't sure. Tyson ran after them, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" with Ella fluttering around his head.

Octavian gave Percy a disgusted look, then threw down his teddy bear and followed the crowd.

Reyna stood at Percy's shoulder.

"I support you, Percy," she said. "I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends."

"We will," he promised. "You'll see."

She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. "You say Jason is aboard… I hope that's true. I've missed him." She marched outside, leaving Percy alone with Nico, Hazel, and Frank.

"They're coming down right in the forum," Frank said nervously. "Terminus is going to have a heart attack."

"Percy," Hazel said, "you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?"

Percy smiled. Unlike before, it wasn't really a risk. He knew Jason would back everything up. If he was being honest, he quite missed the blonde haired son of Jupiter. Which reminded him of another blonde. Annabeth was on that ship. Finally, he would see her again.

"Alright, Kelp Head," Nico grumbled. "I know who you're thinking about. You'll see her soon, Lover Boy."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. How's Will, Nico?"

"I hate you," Nico muttered darkly.

Percy laughed and threw his arms around Hazel and Frank. "Come on. Let me introduce you to my other family."

* * *

**A/N: Little choppy, but since Nico obviously never went to look for the Doors of Death this time, he'll still be at Camp Jupiter. Seeing as he's part of the time traveling trio, he wants to go with the Seven to stop Gaea and prevent the war from becoming how bad it became.**


	7. The Son of Hades (Annabeth VII)

She let Leo paint his smiley face and "WASSUP" message on the bottom of the boat. Something she kind of regretted now that she was on the ground staring up at the large boat hovering over New Rome.

"Annabeth!"

Annabeth's heart jumped. She glanced around wildly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered Reyna's presence, but all her focus was on finding Percy.

And there he was, wearing a purple cloak of a praetor. Of course he was. She surged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"I missed you, Seaweed Brain," she whispered.

Percy hugged her just as tight. "Missed you too, Wise Girl."

"Uh, hi," Jason greeted Reyna and Percy awkwardly. "So, yeah… it's good to be back." He gestured to his friends. "This is Piper, daughter of Aphrodite," he said pointing to Piper. "This is Leo, son of Hephestus," he said pointing to Leo. "He's the one that pretty much built the ship and sent you that message. Uh, that's Annabeth, daughter of Athena," he pointed to Annabeth. "Guys, this is Reyna," Jason said to Annabeth, Piper, and Leo. "She's praetor."

A dark shape on the corner of Annabeth's vision. She whipped her head around to look.

"Nico?"

Nico looked like a deer in headlights. "Hi, Annabeth. Look, uh, if you wanna yell at me for, you know, not telling you guys about Percy, then I'll tell you I couldn't. I wasn't allowed to tell the Camps about each other yet."

"It seems we have a lot to discuss," Reyna said. "Centurions!"

A few of the Roman campers hustled forward. Frank and Hazel appeared at Percy's side.

"Oh, this is Frank and Hazel," Percy said cheerfully. "They're part of the Seven too of course."

"Of course," Annabeth heard Piper mutter. The daughter of Aphrodite looked uneasy. She was constantly fingering the iron necklace Annabeth had instructed them all to wear.

"You're letting these intruders into the camp?" A tall guy with stringy blond hair elbowed his way forward. Octavian. "Reyna, the security risks—"

"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." Reyna flashed him a stern look. "We'll eat here, in the forum."

"Oh, much better," Octavian grumbled. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."

"These are our guests." Reyna clipped off every word. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."

"Good idea," Percy put in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "You have my orders. Go."

The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute loathing. Then he gave Annabeth a suspicious once-over and stalked away.

Nico gave off a noise of disgust. "He's the one downside to being back here," he grumbled. "I hope he blows up."

Hazel shot her brother a strange look. "Nico-"

"Don't tell me to take it back," Nico rolled his eyes. He glanced at Annabeth. "Any eidolons?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Nothing. I'm still worried something might go wrong, but the necklaces sure help."

"Eidolons?" Reyna pressed.

"Spirits," Nico answered. "Iron repels them. Annabeth was worried they might attempt something. It's nothing to worry about anymore."

.

"So anyway," Percy was saying as they ate. "You guys kinda have three praetors now."

Annabeth saw Jason glance down at his own purple cloak. He seemed to have forgotten about it.

"Yes, and the rules state we can only have two!" Octavian said irritably.

"On the plus side," Nico started, "both Percy and Jason outrank you. So they can both tell you to shut up."

Octavian gapped at the son of Hades while Percy and Jason shared a grin and a fist bump.

Percy waved a hand. "Doesn't matter. I'll step aside for Jason. No biggie."

Jason seemed to get along with Percy as good as he had before. In no time, the two were chatting like old friends which, Annabeth supposed, was true for Percy at least. She swallowed back the grief at that thought.

.

_"We need to start on the food," Will Solace said with a glance at Jason. "If we're going to take on Gaea and the Giants, we need to have enough ambrosia and nectar to heal the injured after. Not to mention, we need our strength."_

_Apollo nodded along with his son. "Will's right. I can only do so much by way of healing. We can't dip into the medical stock. Or the emergency stock. Like for whatever reason I… I can't, you know, heal someone. We need ambrosia." He didn't say that one of those reasons might be his death._

_"Jason has a pretty good stock," Nico said quietly. He had become much more drawn back in the month following the retreat to Olympus. "I'm better now. I can go with Jason and get a bunch more today."_

_Will looked like he wanted to argue._

_Athena nodded. "We'll send you two out then."_

_"You should take others with you," Percy crossed his arms. "Just in case. Jason, you know they almost got you yesterday. And we've pretty much cleaned out all the CVS's and 7/11's near us."_

_Jason gave Percy a grin. "Exciting, right?" he sighed. "Come on, Percy! Nico and I will be fine." He got up and kissed Piper. "See you when I get back. Any requests?"_

_Piper smiled. "Tacos?"_

_Jason's face faltered. Leo's death was a touchy subject, and tacos reminded the two of their dragon riding friend. He nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Tacos. Do my best."_

_Nico and Will were speaking lowly in the corner. Annabeth frowned, but said nothing. Nico finally got up and made his way over to where Jason was waiting._

_"Back in a minute," Jason said before he lifted into the air with Nico who wrapped himself and Jason in shadows and disappeared._

_Annabeth started bouncing her foot after the first five minute passed. Percy was pacing the length of the temple. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades exchanged looks._

_"It shouldn't take this long," Hephestus muttered. "With two of them this should be much quicker."_

_A horn sounded in the distance. Reyna jolted. Her eyes were wide._

_"My hunters," Artemis gasped. She looked at Thalia. "Some are on guard today, correct?"_

_Thalia nodded. She leapt to her feet and gripped her bow tightly. "We're under attack."_

_._

_The entrance to Olympus was under siege. The first, second, and fourth cohorts had been closest and they were locked in a fierce battle. The hunters of Artemis had been on guard duty when the attack began._

_"Hunters with me!" Thalia shouted. She fired arrows at the giants and monsters invading Olympus. When she reached the hunters, she drew a sword and her shield sprung from her bracelet._

_"Romans, hold your formation," Reyna commanded. She charged into the battle._

_Percy glanced at Annabeth worriedly. She gripped the hilt of the bone sword Damasen had given her._

_"As long as we're together," Annabeth said, kissing him. Together they jumped into the battle._

_They fought hard. Demigods and gods alike. War cries echoed across the crumbling Olympus that Annabeth had once worked so hard to design._

_A rumbling caused both sides to pause. At the front, between the two warring sides, the shadows darkened. With a roar, Nico sprung out of the shadows. His Stygian Ice sword struck the ground, and an army of undead began attacking the giants and monsters with vigor._

_The monsters disintegrated quickly. When they recovered from the shock of the sight, gods and goddesses quickly charged at the giants and delivered fatal blows alongside their children._

_At last, a break. Annabeth paused to breath and take in their losses. Minimal casualties on their side. She saw Apollo, Will, and the rest of the Apollo cabin moving the few dead back deeper into Olympus._

_Nico still radiated power and darkness. The shadows whipped around him._

_"Son," Hades tried to get Nico's attention._

_Nico turned to face them. His face seemed to age as Annabeth looked at him. He looked exhausted as he let the shadows go. Someone tumbled out of the shadows. Annabeth peered closer, but she couldn't make out who it was._

_Piper's horrified scream and the thunder that rocked Olympus was all the confirmation Annabeth needed._

_The next two weeks, Annabeth fought with the images of Leo Valdez and Jason Grace burned into her mind. Gaea would not take another friend from her._

.

"No ships!" The squawky voice cut through Annabeth's thoughts. Ella the harpy must have arrived then.

Annabeth's blood chilled as she recalled what was said next.

"Bad luck. There she is," Ella said, looking at Annabeth. " Wisdom's daughter walks alone -"

"Ella!" Frank said sharply. "Maybe it's not the best time-"

"_The Mark of Athena burns through Rome_," Ella continued. "_Twins snuff out the angel's light / Who holds the key to saviors plight / Giant's bane stands gold and pale / Won through pain from a woven jail_."

Annabeth looked at a very pale Nico. They couldn't be sure the prophecy would still actually mean something, but at least until it was said, they could pretend it didn't exist. Yet… the prophecy had changed. What it meant was a mystery to Annabeth.

"Really, Octavian?" Annabeth heard Nico say with a slight waver in his voice. "Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Greek ones have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"

Hazel cleared her throat. "Percy's right. Tyson should take Ella and… Mrs. O'Leary and shadow travel somewhere for a while."

"Great!" Percy said with a big fake smile on his face. "We'll IM you when we're done and catch up with you later."

The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Annabeth held her breath. Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied Ella, but Annabeth couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"Fine," the praetor said at last. "Go."

"Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it. Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.

"Well." Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."

"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"

"Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."

Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"

"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."

"But…" Octavian stopped. "Fine."

Leo got up. "Back soon," he promised. "This is gonna be epic."

Something glinted on the ground. Annabeth turned her head to look.

"No!" Nico shouted.

Leo sighed and looked at Nico. "What? I can handle Octavian."

Nico leant down and picked something up from the ground. He held it out to Leo. "You dropped this," Nico said in a chillingly calm voice.

Annabeth reached for her dagger. Nico was holding Leo's iron necklace. Her hand closed around nothing. Because all their weapons were on the Argo II, and none of the Roman's had a weapon either.

"We've got a dam problem," Percy muttered. He watched Leo warily.

Annabeth swallowed. "Oh gods. The eidolons are here."

Leo let out a hollow laugh. "Daughter of Athena. You thought you could outsmart us with iron?"

"Get out of my friend," Annabeth hissed. "NOW!"

Leo's hand caught fire.

"Holy Hercules!" someone shouted.

"LEAVE!"

Annabeth probably wouldn't have believed such a loud and forceful command could ever be uttered by the son of Hades if she hadn't seen him in action during the Giants War.

Nico stalked up to Leo, glaring. "Leave now, and never, ever come back to inhabit any body of a demigod, Roman or Greek."

"You do not command us," Leo said. The rest of his body started catching fire.

"I do command you," Nico said with a smirk. "I am the son of Hades, ruler of the Underworld, the dead, and riches. I am the Ghost King. And I order you to leave and pass on the message to the rest of your friends that the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo, will find them and destroy them if I so much as hear a whisper of you possessing anyone." Nico waited for the eidolon's response.

Leo's fire suddenly went out and he pitched forward. Jason and Percy rushed to catch him. At the same time, Nico collapsed to the ground.

Annabeth found herself admiring the enigma that was Nico di Angelo.

* * *

**A/N: So I decided to let Leo paint WASSUP on the bottom of the Argo II. I thought that would have been a funny sight if Annabeth had let him do it in the books.**

**Anyway, gotta love The Titan's Curse and all the dam things that go with it. Like snack bars, french fries, restrooms, water fountain, and t-shirts.**  
**Also, if you're wondering why the gods don't just snap their fingers and poof some food up, well, I'll tell you that they can't do that because that breaks Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration which says that food cannot be created out of nothing. Not to mention that the gods are significantly weaker since pretty much everyone who believes in them is stuck on Olympus with them while the rest of the world is swallowed by Gaea.**


	8. Prophecy (Nico VIII)

Nico opened his eyes.

"Rise and shine," a cheerful voice greeted him. "Nice to see you awake, Sunshine."

He groaned. "I'm at Camp Half-Blood. Will, where's Percy and Annabeth?"

Will Solace's face swam into Nico's view. He was grinning. "About that. When were you planning on telling me you'd become the Ambassador to Pluto for the Roman camp?" Will asked. "And that Percy was alive and well at said Roman camp."

"Apparently now," Nico snapped. He sat up and moved to get out of the bed. Will pushed him back down. "Let me out," Nico grumbled.

"Doctor's orders," Will shrugged. "You tired yourself out getting rid of eidolons four days ago from what Annabeth said."

Nico glared. "Will. I have to go. It's a matter of life and death."

"Is it? Because if you don't rest for at least another day, it will be a matter of life and death. I know how to hurt people and make it look like an accident."

Nico stared at Will in surprise. "Did you just threaten to kill me?"

"No, I threatened to stab you so you physically cannot leave," Will corrected.

The blonde son of Apollo making threats like this made Nico incredibly flustered. His face was definitely a light shade of pink, and he sputtered.

"I'm… I'm serious," Nico tried to regain control of his emotions. "I have to help them. There's a prophecy-"

"Annabeth told me," Will nodded. "_Twins snuff out the angel's light / Who holds the key to saviors plight_. She also said to do whatever it took to keep you here."

"Will, please," Nico begged. "Keep me in the infirmary as long as you like at any time, _but_ this time. I need to speak to Annabeth and Percy at least."

Will looked shocked, but then his face fell and he gave Nico a sad look. "They left. Yesterday. Annabeth got me, Jason was carrying you. Then they got back on the Argo II and set sail for Rome."

"I need to IM them," Nico said through gritted teeth. "Now, please."

Will didn't question Nico which was a pleasant surprise. He quickly supplied a rainbow and left the room.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow," Nico prayed. "Show me Percy Jackson on the Argo II.

The rainbow shimmered and suddenly Percy's face was on display.

"Nico!" Percy said cheerfully. "Glad to see you awake."

Nico glared at him. "Percy Jackson, I will kill you. I _said_ I was going to help you with this, but no. You dropped me off with _WILL SOLACE_? " He shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now. I figured out what Ella's prophecy was talking about."

"You did?" Hazel's voice cut in.

"Is everyone there?" Nico asked sarcastically.

Annabeth came into view. She crossed her arms. "Yeah. Team meeting actually. What is it?"

"Will," Nico blurted. "It's Will. _Twins snuff out the angel's light_. I didn't realize it until he said the lines you told him. If I'm the angel, then Will's the light."

Percy and Annabeth had pale faces.

"We can't turn around," Percy said, but he looked back at something or someone, hopefully. "How far are we?"

"Just over halfway," someone answered. Nico thought it might be Leo.

Percy looked guilty. "Look, Nico, I wanted to bring you, but I agreed with Annabeth that it was about you. I never even considered… gods, I'm an idiot." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Percy, tell him about the dream," Piper's voice called out.

"Right," Percy sighed. "Nico, we were like almost to Camp Half-Blood. Originally I wanted to get Will to look at you and then once you woke up you could come with us, but I had this dream. You were in a bronze jar and there was like two pomegranate seeds."

"Hazel said it's called a death trance," Jason said.

Nico swallowed. "Yeah, that's right. But… Percy, are you sure? I was so sure _the angel's light_ meant Will. But, uh, I don't really know the key to the saviors plight. What exactly is this plight?"

Percy and Annabeth shared a guilty look.

"If you two think you can leave me here and then go and get yourselves killed, then you've got another thing coming!" Nico shouted at them. "I'll shadow travel to you. Give me a second."

"Not happening," Hazel's voice said firmly. "Will told Jason and Annabeth that you wouldn't be able to do that for a few more days."

"Of course he did," Nico muttered darkly. "Then I'll just have to fly a pegasus now won't I?"

"They don't like you," Percy pointed out. "Probably because, you know, water isn't your type."

Nico glowered. "Percy. I will find a way onto the Argo II and I will stop you from doing something idiotic. I'm sure if I pray hard enough to your dad he'll help me reach you in record time." He jumped when a loud crash came from outside. Camper's shouts reached his ears.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

Nico kicked back the bedsheets and grabbed his sword from a nearby chair. "Don't know. I'm going to see what's up. Call you later." He waved a hand through the message.

.

Outside, the campers were rushing around. They had armor thrown on half-hazardly and some weren't even wearing armor.

"Oh gods." Nico's jaw dropped open when he saw two faces he hoped to never see again.

Ephialtes and Otis. The bane of Dionysus. Or Bacchus. The twins that trapped him in a bronze jar for days. He still had nightmares about it. Waking up and realizing there were no more pomegranate seeds. Suffocating and choking as he struggled to breath…

Nico shook himself from his thoughts. He spotted the Apollo cabin lining up with their bows. Will was with them. And the two giants were headed straight for him.

"NO!" Nico shouted, charging towards them.

Ephialtes chuckled. "Son of Hades. Our mother said you'd be here."

Nico's blood ran cold. Gaea wanted them to kidnap him. _Crap, crap, crap_. He faltered in his charge.

"You cannot hope to defeat us," Otis continued.

_Twins snuff out the angel's light_

_Who holds the key to saviors plight._

Saviors plight? Savior's plight? Saviors' plight? Saviors' plight. What had been the biggest problem? Percy and Annabeth's little upcoming trip. Nico was stupid for not having realized it before. Then again, Annabeth hadn't figured it out and she was the daughter of Athena. Still, it seemed glaringly obvious once Nico realized what it meant.

Nico did probably the stupidest thing he could have done in a battle. He stopped his charge and extended a hand in Will's direction. The shadows wrapped around the confused son of Apollo.

"Tell them I'm sorry and it's the fall," Nico shouted as Will disappeared.

Ephialtes grinned as Nico stumbled and fell right at his feet. The last thing Nico saw before blacking out was a giant hand reaching for him.

* * *

**A/N: First of all, if you think I'm going to write Solangelo and NOT throw in a "not your type" joke, you are sorely mistaken. Lately, my life has revolved around Jason and Percy as Solangelo's number one fans, Solangelo, and "not your type" jokes.**

**Second, if you recall, Nico is from the future, hence he is more powerful, hence he deems himself okay to shadow travel Will far away. Obviously, he was slightly wrong since he fainted.**

**Third, I didn't go into detail about the past four days because all you need to know is that everything stayed the same, just the Romans didn't attack because they were able to prevent Leo the Eidolon from firing on New Rome. In general, that's what I'll be doing if something is the same. Glaze over it, have the characters think about it in one or two paragraphs then move on with the story.**


	9. Here Comes the Sun (Will IX)

Surprisingly, the fact that he was now in a completely different setting was not overly alarming for Will Solace. As far as demigods went, nothing much could really surprise him anymore.

But what _did_ surprise him was the seven demigods staring at him.

"Will?" Percy Jackson finally managed to ask.

Annabeth Chase's eyes narrowed into slits. Will shrunk back. He'd never say it out loud, but the daughter of Athena scared him. So did her boyfriend. Both of which were right in front of him along with Jason Grace (he was as scary as Percy), Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, and two other demigods he didn't recognize.

"Wait," the girl he didn't recognize asked. "Will? As in Will Solace? They guy Nico was talking about earlier?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said through gritted teeth. "The guy who was supposed to watch Nico, not get himself shadow traveled to the Argo II by Nico."

"He said to tell you sorry," Will blurted. He cringed, remembering exactly what had landed him here. "Uh… we got attacked."

Piper was alert now. She glanced at Percy, then back to Will. "What happened? Who attacked?"

"Two giants," Will said with a frown. "I don't know which ones. They definitely knew Nico. They singled him out as the son of Hades."

Percy growled. He flopped back into his chair. "Gods, I thought he was safe at Camp."

"Nico mentioned a fall," Will added. "Before he shadow traveled me away, he said 'Tell them I'm sorry and it's the fall.' Do you know what he means?"

Annabeth's face went from glaring daggers at him to pale as a ghost in top speed.

"What fall?" the guy Will didn't recognize asked.

Percy sighed. "Will, you might want to sit down. Frank… I guess Annabeth and I have to explain some things." He wrung his hands nervously. "Okay, uh, Will. That's Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. From Camp Jupiter." He was silent.

"What's going on?" Jason asked flatly.

Annabeth took Percy's hand. "We haven't been truthful with you guys. Percy and I… we know exactly what's going to happen on this quest. Um, the day we got back to Camp, the day Kronos was defeated, three of us kind of… time traveled."

"Time traveled?" Leo repeated. "You're saying you time traveled? Wait. Three of you?" He pointed to Percy, Annabeth, and Will.

Percy shook his head. "Annabeth and I, yeah, but it wasn't Will. It was Nico."

Nico time traveled. That surprised Will. In the world of Greek Myths, hardly anything could be considered impossible anymore. Time travel was one of those things Will always thought of as science-fiction. It just wasn't possible Greek gods or no Greek gods. But now…

Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Nico di Angelo was quiet and reserved. He didn't talk to anyone. He had become so different than the young boy who blabbered about Mythomagic upon his arrival to Camp. During the Titan War, Nico was cold and isolated. He did not get excited over games anymore. Then, suddenly, the son of Hades was speaking to Will and helping out in the infirmary. He would smile and laugh when he was with Will to the rest of the Camp's utter shock.

And Will had wondered why the all powerful son of one of the Big Three chose _him_ as a friend. Whenever he asked Nico, he shrugged and said that Will was super nice to him and didn't care that his father was the King of the Underworld. But if Nico was from the future, and in that future was friends with Will, naturally Nico would seek out Will's friendship early on.

Percy's goodbyes suddenly made much more sense too. When he had left at the end of summer, he made it seem like he wouldn't be seeing any of them for a long time. But if he knew he was going to be part of Hera's exchange program, it made sense for him to say his goodbyes that way.

And the nightmares. Gods, the nightmares Percy and Annabeth had. What had they gone through in the future that was so terrible that they couldn't sleep without the other in their arms?

"So what happens now?" Frank asked quietly. "You two know what to do and where to go, right?"

"I have to follow the Mark of Athena," Annabeth explained shakily. "By… by myself. The rest of you have to rescue Nico. Those giants took him last time too. He was there much longer the first time though. Then, Percy will know where to go so you can get the Athena Parthenos."

Percy squeezed her hand. "Our voyage is much harder," he said tightly. "The last line of the prophecy, the Great Prophecy, the whole _Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_ thing? The mortal side is in Espirus in the House of Hades. The other side is somewhere else. Annabeth and I did it last time. We can do it this time. We… we know what to expect and… and it'll be fine."

"Where are they?" Will asked flatly. "And what did Nico mean? Possibly his last… last words," Will hated how his voice cracked. "I want to know what they meant."

Percy ran his hands through his hair. Annabeth blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"_Twins snuff out the angel's light / Who holds the key to saviors' plight_," Annabeth recited. "Nico figured it out. _The angel's light_, he thought that was you, Will, although it could mean Nico's life. _The saviors' plight_ is what he probably figured out when he sent you here. When he said 'it's about the fall,' he meant this plight. I should have realized this sooner. Plight has two meanings. One, a dangerous, difficult, or unfortunate situation. Two, to pledge or promise solemnly."

"Annabeth and I fell last time," Percy explained. "We _did_ pledge or promise solemnly." He looked at his girlfriend. "We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again."

"As long as we're together," Annabeth finished. She took a deep breath. "The fall was to Tartarus. That's the other side of the Doors."

Piper gasped. "Tartarus?"

The room in the Argo II grew cold. Will shivered. From what he read in the myths about Greek Mythology, Tartarus was not a pleasant place. He had asked Nico about it once, but the son of Hades had tensed up and ignored him. Eventually, he stopped asking.

"Nico's been there. Hasn't he?" Will asked.

"That's where he was captured the first time," Percy confirmed. He bit his lip. "So, according to the prophecy, either you or Nico know how to solve this problem. Any ideas?"

Will frowned. "Not presently. How did you close the Doors anyway?"

"Bob and Damasen," Annabeth answered. "Bob, sorry, Iapetus the Titan, and Damasen the Giant helped us. Percy and I cut the chains and Bob held the button for twelve minutes to send us through the Doors. Damasen fought the monsters off." She swallowed. "We… we were hoping to save Bob and Damasen this time."

"Hold on," Jason said, holding up a hand. "You're telling me that you two are actually _volunteering_ to go _back_ to Tartarus? Why wouldn't you just… I mean, one of us could do it!"

"No," Will said shaking his head. "No one else could." He studied the two time travelers before him. "The nightmares. This is why you have them. No way are either of you going to wish that on anyone. You're both too noble. Your knowledge. You already did it once, so the second time should be easy, right? You said it yourself, you know what to expect."

"Bob's my friend," Percy said helpfully. "I erased his memories in the Lethe and told him I was his friend. Nico took me to visit him a lot before I went missing. Well, this time anyway. Last time, I never visited. I was a bad friend." He fell silent.

"Okay, enough of this," Leo said, crossing his arms. "I want to know how heroic we all are in the future. Like, who do we marry and stuff. _Do_ any of us get married? Which camp do we live at? What's the gossip?"

Percy and Annabeth shared a look.

"Better questions," Will heard himself ask. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Who died? Why did you come back? How bad did we lose?"

* * *

**A/N: ****I couldn't keep the secret any longer! So now they all know.**

**Bringing Will aboard the Argo II was not planned. I was going to have Nico do some ninja escaping moves and get captured by the giants, but then I was like 'nah! just have him sacrifice his life and send Will to the seven' so yeah. We went that route.**

**Although I was hoping to keep the time travel thing a secret from the rest of the crew for a while longer, I think this will actually work out.**

**And don't ya know, writing this is having me copy and paste the chapters from PDFs and then I'm writing the new stuff and deleting the book stuff and I'm learning/remembering things. It's been a while since I read HOO. I'm thinking about going back and rereading PJO and HOO and TOA because I don't remember a lot.**

**Also, hit me over the head with a nice Gibbs Slap because I totally thought Nico was Spanish even though I KNOW he lived in Italy before he did his lil time skip in the Casino. I'm so disappointed in myself. Like, how did I mess that up?**

**Anyway, of course Will has to ask the hard question, but that means you guys get a little more insight into what happened in the future!**


	10. Final Breath (Piper X)

Leo asked some great questions. Piper found herself fantasizing about her own future. They were demigods, but if things worked out between the two camps, would they be able to live in New Rome? The apple pie life of a white picket fence and 2.5 kids was a whimsical dream for the Greek demigods, but in New Rome, that dream could be made a reality.

Then Will asked the questions no one wanted to know the answers to, but at the same time wanted them desperately. Piper felt her hope sink as she waited to know the names of the dead and the reason the time travel had occurred.

"We didn't try to time travel," Annabeth said, avoiding the topic of death.

Piper felt her stomach clench. So some of the Seven were dead then. She could see it in the faces of Percy and Annabeth. They couldn't meet anyone's eyes.

"We don't know how or why it happened, just that we're going to make things better," Annabeth finished.

"Please, Annabeth," Piper pleaded. "We have to know. How bad was it?"

"Bad," Percy said with a grimace. "We… we got back to Camp Half-Blood in time. Reyna and Nico arrived with the Athena Parthenos in time to stop the Romans from attacking, but when we were in Greece… the blood of Olympus was spilled. Gaea woke up and the gods slingshot us to Camp to fight her. Leo, Jason, and Piper had a plan, but… I don't know, I guess it failed or something."

"The tide just turned to hard against us all of a sudden," Annabeth continued. "Then the gods were there and they started taking as many demigods as they could to Olympus. It's out of Gaea's reach. We… we waited there for a month before the giants came to attack us. For every giant we killed, Gaea would just create another. It was two weeks of constant fighting before the giants retreated. We won eventually, but not for another three months. The cost… the cost was high."

Hazel stared at the ground. "Who died?"

"At least half the demigods died because the gods couldn't get us out quick enough," Percy answered. "Pretty much all the mortal world, so those of us with parents… they all…" he trailed off, upset. "Uh, anyway, after that. I guess the next loss would be…" he couldn't say it.

Piper bit her lip. _It's one of us_, she thought. _Hazel or Frank or even Will. People Percy knows. Oh gods, how can he stand to see them alive?_

"Jason," Annabeth blurted. She had tears in her eyes. "Nico and Jason went to get food. That was the day the giants attacked Olympus. Nico never said what happened. He won't talk about it."

Piper's heart stopped. _Jason_.

For his part, Jason seemed relatively accepting of his impending doom. He squeezed Piper's hand as soon as Annabeth said his name.

"Jason… Jason's dead?" Piper whispered. She clutched her boyfriend's hand like a lifeline. "Is it because of the prophecy? _An oath to keep with a final breath_?"

"We never really figured that out," Percy answered quietly. "I mean, Leo… like the day Gaea turned the tides there was a huge explosion involving Leo and Festus. We thought he was dead. Nico and Hazel swore they _felt_ his death, but three weeks after the giants attacked Olympus, Leo appeared. He said he _did_ die, but the physician's cure brought him back. He came back with Calypso."

"Calypso as in the titan Odysseus runs into?" Piper asked in confusion.

Percy nodded. "He swore on the Styx he'd go back and get her. No one's ever been to Ogygia, her island, more than once. Anyway, we thought that might be it, but Jason also promised Piper stuff before he left. And Nico promised stuff too. We all promised stuff. It could be anything really." He coughed. "Uh, we lost like another half in that battle. Which sucked." His face brightened. "On the plus side, Octavian didn't survive."

Piper tried not to smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jason suppressing a grin and his shoulders were shaking.

"Good riddance," Frank grumbled. "I hate Octavian."

"But would you wish death on him?" Hazel asked hesitantly. Her golden eyes turned towards Percy and Annabeth. "Please continue. I… I can sense there's more you haven't told us."

"When we took the fight to Gaea," Annabeth started, "we… we knew a lot of people were going to die, but I guess I never anticipated gods dying, you know? The biggest blow was Hecate. Clytius was meant to oppose her and he hadn't been defeated yet. She would have used her torches to aid Hazel, but…" Annabeth's face clouded over. "Frank, you helped Hazel."

"How?" Frank asked in confusion. "I thought you needed a god and a demigod."

"Juno," Annabeth said quietly. "She… she's the one that helped you. It's through her that your wood piece can be ignited by a single thought."

_Wood piece_? Piper wondered, but a look at Frank's pale white face told her it was bad.

"I'm sorry, Frank," Annabeth said miserably.

Piper swallowed. "Jason and Frank. Gods, please tell me that's it!" she begged.

"Alcyoneus came back," Percy said looking at Hazel. "You and your dad took care of it. Of course, he had to announce his presence like right after Frank died and none of us were really thinking rationally. Hazel, you like, totally flipped."

Piper's stomach started sinking. _Jason, Frank, and now Hazel?_ If Percy and Annabeth were the only ones of the Seven to do this whole time travel thing, did that mean they were the only ones of the Seven to survive?

"It was like an explosion," Percy said almost reverently. He seemed in awe, like how the other campers had spoken about him in his absence. "Gold, diamonds, rubies, pretty much any precious metal nearby. Hazel, you pulled them all up and they turned into liquid and just pulled him back into the pit via Pluto's powers," Percy waved his hands around. "It took too much out of you."

"Oh gods," Piper sobbed, burying her face into Jason's chest. "Are we all dead?"

"No," Annabeth sighed. "But I wish it was that way. Some things are worse than death, you know? Pretty much all the Apollo kids died. Not you, Will, but… you were a rare survivor. Gaea sent a small army to attack Olympus. That's where we kept the healers. Apollo volunteered to transport the injured there throughout the battle. Anyone injured never stood a chance, so they died too." Her breath hitched. "Leo… Leo wanted to try the plan again, so he got Piper and flew Gaea up. Piper charmspoke Gaea to become drowsy. Aphrodite caught Piper when Leo let her go. Thalia… gods, Percy, please?"

Percy took over. "Thalia summoned a storm and blasted Gaea the same time Leo blasted Gaea with fire. They got her, but… there wasn't a physician's cure this time, and a lot of the lightning rebound back at Thalia."

"The three of us are the only ones left?" Piper heard herself ask. Her own voice seemed far away.

Will looked stunned. "There's a reason only three go on a quest," he pointed out quietly. "Do you think you can stop this?"

"Gaea _has_ to die the first time," Annabeth said desperately. "When Leo blows her up. He'll take the physician's cure, and rescue Calypso. That's our only shot at saving lives."

"I'll make it happen," Leo promised, who, in Piper's opinion, looked oddly cheerful for a guy who learned that the fate of the world literally depends on his death. "I'm Leo Valdez, Bad Boy Supreme, the Super Sized McShizzle." He clapped his hands. "Right. Now, we have a freaky Hades kid to save and a giant Athena statue to find. No time to waste. Let's get a move on!"

* * *

**A/N: ****I promised you some insight on the future didn't I? I also promise some insight on the future via flashback, but you'll have to keep reading to find that out.**

**Totally did not plan to have that whole "three per quest" thing, but I realized that after I killed off Jason, Frank, Hazel, and Leo, that left Percy, Annabeth, and Piper which totals three. Huh. Must have been the Fates.**


	11. Death Has a Name (Nico XI)

Nico remembered the giant hand grabbing him. Not much else after that though. Everything was a blur. He knew he was in that cursed bronze jar, and he knew he ate a pomegranate seed. He knew the nightmares would come.

He waited for them. As he slipped into the death trance, he started to regret it.

.

_Piper's scream still rang in his ears. The dull thud Jason's body made echoed in his thoughts._

_Everyone wanted Nico to talk about it, but to be perfectly honest, describing how monsters brutally killed Jason right in front of Nico just wasn't very high on Nico's list of moments he wanted to relive._

_The past two weeks he spent fighting monsters and destroying them. Nothing he did made him feel like he had gotten justice for Jason's death. Nico just kept killing monster after monster. He never felt anything like this before._

_Well, that wasn't completely true. When Bianca had died, he was like this. Unlike then, Nico had someone to help keep his head on._

_Will Solace was the son of Apollo and, despite the current atmosphere in the days following the two week long invasion, he managed to keep his cheerful, happy-go-lucky, cando attitude._

_"You don't seem as drained as before," Will pointed out when he finally deemed Nico fit to leave the makeshift infirmary in Apollo's temple three days later. "When you had the statue, you almost dissolved into shadows. After two weeks of non stop fighting, this is pretty good."_

_"Shadow travel is a lot more draining than anything else I can do."_

_"Still. I'm glad you're not becoming one with the shadows this time, di Angelo."_

_Nico's stomach fluttered. Then he scowled. "Why do you care, Will?"_

_"Because you're my friend," Will answered promptly. "And I like you."_

_Now he was blushing. That was so embarrassing! He's the son of Hades. He doesn't blush. He scowled darkly and looked down, letting his hair fall in his face. "Yeah, well, you're alone there. No one wants to be around me. Who would? My father is literally the ruler of death. I have a zombie chauffeur. I was trained by actual ghosts."_

_"Zombie chauffeurs are cool," Will grinned. "Plus, the Seven… they like you too. And you did hear what I said at… at Camp, right? You pushed us away, not the other way around." He frowned. "And you're doing it again."_

_"Jason's dead, Will. I should have been able to protect him." Nico balled his fists tightly. "That's like my whole life story. I should have been able to save Bianca. I should have been able to resist stupid Minos. I should have been able to help Percy _without_ betraying his trust. I should have been able to tell Annabeth where Percy was. I should have been able to evade the giants. I should have been able to find the Doors of Death and close them. I should have been able to save Percy and Annabeth from falling into Tartarus. I should have been able to transport the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood faster. I should have been able to save Leo. I should have been able to save Jason." He squeezed his eyes shut so the tears threatening to fall couldn't. "Tell me something I did that was worthwhile, Will. Because it seems like everything I've done, I should have been able to do more."_

_"You convinced your dad to fight the Titans. I… I always admired that."_

_Nico blinked. "You did?"_

_Will shrugged. "Well, yeah. We probably won the war because of that. At the very least, you and your dad saved a ton of lives that day."_

_"Lives that have now been lost to Gaea."_

_"That's not fair to compare the two events," Will said disapprovingly. "You contributed a lot to the Titan war. And if you want to talk about feeling useless… I can't fight, Nico. I mean, I'm decent with a bow. A lot better to be honest after lessons from Artemis, but healing has always been my strong suit. I know it's still helping, but kinda feels like I'm useless in this War. Promise me that if you make it out of this alive you'll socialize more? And be careful with your Underworld-y magic stuff?"_

_Holy Hera, those skeletal butterflies must be doing whole gymnastic routines. Nico crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Promise. Don't die on me either, Will. You're a good friend, you know."_

_._

_"OH YEAH! LEO VALDEZ IS BACK!"_

_Nico would have punched Leo in the face if it wasn't for Will's glare to remind him not to 'overexert' himself._

_Three weeks after the giants attacked Olympus, Leo Valdez apparently decided he didn't want to be dead anymore._

_"SUPER SIZED MCSHIZZLE IS BACK BABY!"_

_Leo landed Festus and slid off the metal dragon's back. He was met with silence. A girl with long caramel brown hair and almond-shaped eyes slid off after him. Her jeans were streaked with grease and dirt much like Leo's whole body. The only clean item the two appeared to have was the pink ski jacket the girl wore, although it too had some dirt on it._

_"Leo?" Piper whispered in shock. She launched herself at her friend and hugged him tight. "Leo! Gods, we missed you!" Then she socked him in the arm. "You idiot! We all thought you were dead!" Her voice broke and her arms wrapped around herself._

_Leo's smile faltered. He scanned the crowd of demigods and gods that all seemed rather indifferent to his arrival. "What happened? We went to Camp Half-Blood first, but… it's not even there anymore. Piper?"_

_Percy finally stepped forward. "Leo, it's been almost two months since you… didn't die. Stuff happened. The giants forced us too flee to Olympus. Three weeks ago, they attacked. The fighting only just stopped about a week ago." He finally noticed the girl at Leo's side. "Calypso?"_

_"Hi, Percy," the girl said with a sad smile. "Please don't apologize. I don't blame you for what happened."_

_Percy nodded tightly. "I wasn't going to," he said stiffly. "Just so you know, Annabeth's fine. She survived your curse," he said bitterly._

_Nico raised an eyebrow as he looked between Percy and Calypso. History was clearly shared here._

_"Because there's these things called arai in Tartarus," Percy continued as Calypso's face got paler. "And if you kill them, they curse you. I got poisoned by gorgon's blood like Phineas, an arrow shot through my chest like Geryon, you know, all the different ways I've killed monsters over the years. Annabeth was blinded, that was Polyphemus of course, but the curse that made her feel abandoned was the worst." His eyes held a steely glint. "Your curse. Maybe a curse was deserved, but you should have cursed me. Not Annabeth." He looked at Leo. "Welcome back, Leo." Then he stalked off._

_Nico moved towards Leo. "Your death felt different," he said. "I guess that's because you didn't die."_

_Leo snorted. "Nice way to greet me, di Angelo. But, uh, the Physician's Cure brought me back. Flew to Ogygia and got Calypso. Went to Camp about a week ago. Tried Camp Jupiter too. That was three days ago. Both camps are…" he trailed off._

_"They are gone," Calypso said quietly. Her face was still pale white from her encounter with Percy. "At Camp Half-Blood, Leo wished to find Bunker 9. The earth attacked us," she said, gesturing to the dirt stains on their clothes and skin. "We believe Gaea swallowed the camps."_

_Nico's chest tightened. "Oh gods. What about the mortals? We haven't been down there in weeks. Have they left the mortals alone?"_

_Leo and Calypso's silence was all the answer Nico needed. He had felt many deaths since they fled to Olympus, but he had always held out hope that the mortals were not being utterly decimated by Gaea._

_"Look," Leo said lowly. "I want to try my plan again. My fire wasn't strong enough to kill Gaea, but I think if Jason or Thalia like sent a Hades ton of lightning at her the same time I set fire to her… I think it'll work."_

_Calypso looked unsure, and Nico was ready to join her in this uncertainty._

_"The prophecy said the world would fall to storm or fire. Not both," Nico pointed out. Then he backtracked. Leo didn't know…_

_"Um, Leo," Will said gently._

_Nico started. He forgot Will was there._

_"Jason… Jason's dead," Will said quietly. "Three weeks ago. The day the giants began their attack on Olympus."_

_Leo flinched back. "What?" His eyes darted to Nico as if to confirm it._

_Nico averted his eyes. He did not want this. Jason's still form was burned into his mind as clearly as if he were looking at him now. The worst part of it all was Nico had no way to confirm that Jason was in Elysium where he belonged. His father did not dare visit the Underworld for fear that Gaea would capture him._

_"Then we have to do this," Leo said firmly. "For Jason."_

_"For Jason," Nico echoed hollowly._

_._

_Leo had brought with him his chipper attitude Nico so fondly remembered cursing on the Argo II. It was infectious too, it seemed because as the demigods and gods prepared to make their last stand against Gaea, everyone seemed to be in good spirits._

_"Gaea will have resurrected as many giants as she can," Nico said at the next meeting of the Olympians and head demigods in Athena's temple. He glanced at his father. "I don't think she's been able to have her followers chain open the Doors again."_

_"It's most likely that she hasn't," Hades agreed. "The Doors will not like having been chained the first time. It will be a while before they can be chained again. Decades at least. Centuries at the most."_

_Athena breathed a sigh of relief. "That will be good for us. If Gaea has to resurrect the giants herself, it will be taxing for her."_

_"We need to send a few gods and demigods down to kill a giant every so often until we're ready to execute this plan," Ares said. "Force Gaea to resurrect her giants and keep her weakened."_

_"That might be dangerous," Poseidon pointed out. "Our own powers are weakened. If we cannot get ourselves and our children out of harm's way, then we might not have even bothered going down at all."_

_"Either way, she can't resurrect the giants quickly," Hazel pointed out. "And it will take the giants a significant amount of time to regain their full power. Trust me, I know. We'll have four months before they regain their strength at the latest. Probably three at the earliest."_

_"We'll be ready in two months," Leo promised. "Once I get Festus repaired, we can do this."_

_A chill ran down Nico's spin. They had two more months of life at least. He remained in his seat long after everyone else had left._

_"Nico?" Will called._

_Nico looked up. "Hey. Sorry, just… thinking. Two more months of life probably. I've faced death before, but this is different, you know?"_

_Will nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Our enemy is literally the Earth and that kinda sucks and seems like an impossible enemy. Knowing exactly when the fight is going down is, well, it's terrifying."_

_"I have to do something," Nico said suddenly. He stood up. "I have to go, Will. I'll… I'll…"_

_"I'll be in the infirmary," Will said pointedly. "I have to help set up in preparation for this big mission of Leo's. My dad already volunteered to bring anyone hurt in the fight back to his temple for healing."_

_Nico nodded and rushed out of Athena's temple. He found Percy and Annabeth talking quietly._

_"Hey, Nico," Annabeth smiled when she saw him. "You okay? You kinda zoned out in there."_

_Nico felt sick to his stomach to be honest, but he managed a small smile back. "Yeah, just the whole, we might all be dead in two months thing."_

_"What else is new?" Percy snorted. "I've had a death sentence hanging over me since I was conceived."_

_"Did you need something?" Annabeth asked when it was clear Nico's mouth was failing him._

_Nico exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, I figure since I could die soon, I should get this off my chest." He took a deep breath. "When we were on our way to the House of Hades, Jason and I ran into Cupid. He had the scepter of Diocletian."_

_"Scepter of who?"_

_"Um, that doesn't matter. Anyway, I thought I should clear the air."_

_Percy smile wavered. "What do you mean?"_

_"For a long time," Nico said, "I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know. Before we all die," he added unnecessarily._

_Percy looked at Nico. Then at Annabeth, and if Percy decided to confess his secret love for Nico, Nico just might punch him. Percy looked back at Nico. "You-"_

_"Yeah," Nico interrupted. "You're a great person. But I'm over that. Besides, I've always thought you two belong together," he added with a grin remembering the first time he met Percy and had bombarded him with questions, one of them being about if Annabeth was Percy's girlfriend._

_"You… so you mean-"_

_"Right."_

_Annabeth's grey eyes started to sparkle. She gave Nico a sideways smile._

_"Wait," Percy said. "So you mean –"_

_"Right," Nico said again. "But it's cool. We're cool. I mean, I see now … you're cute, but you're not my type."_

_"I'm not your type … Wait. So –"_

_"See you around, Percy," Nico said. "Annabeth."_

_She raised her hand for a high five._

_Nico obliged. Then, with a much lighter heart, he walked down the roads of Olympus towards Apollo's temple, to where Will Solace was waiting._

_._

_"WILL! WILL!"_

_Nico's desperate shouts rang through an empty Olympus. His breath hitched as he stared across the remains of Annabeth's hard work from after the Titan war. Ruined again._

_Gaea had sent a small force of monsters to attack Olympus. How she knew they had left the palace of the gods virtually defenseless was beyond Nico. How Athena or Annabeth didn't expect this move was beyond Nico too._

_"WILL!" Nico shouted again. He knew it was probably futile, Apollo's temple was completely leveled and there was a very strong aura of death surrounding the ruins._

_"WILL!" Nico's voice cracked. "Will, please."_

_A groan to his left. Some of the debris shifted. Nico ran over to help._

_"Huh? Nico?"_

_Will Solace looked completely out of it. His eyes were glazed and he was covered in dust. He blinked slowly. "What happened?"_

_"Gaea sent her monsters to attack!" Nico shouted angrily. "They leveled Apollo's temple. I thought you were dead you dork!" Nico kissed him before he could realize what he was doing. He pulled back, red faced. "Oh gods, Will, I-"_

_Will cut him off by pulling Nico back down for another kiss. "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that," Will mumbled. He frowned. "Wait. If you're back already, did we win?"_

_Nico gave him his best glare of death to which Will only responded with a laugh._

_"Yeah," Nico answered. He did a double take at his own words realizing what he said. "Yeah! We… we won! Gaea's gone!" The excitement quickly faded though and he sat next to Will on the pile of stone that used to be part of Hestia's temple._

_"Who did we lose?" Will asked quietly. He put an arm around Nico hesitantly._

_Nico stiffened, but finally leaned into the touch. "Frank and Hazel," Nico answered, equally as quiet. His voice wobbled when he said his sister's name. "Hecate. I haven't found Kayla or Austin or anyone, and Apollo's missing too." He felt Will tense up. "Leo and Thalia took out Gaea, but… the fire and lightning, I don't know. I guess it was too much." Nico let out a shaky breath. "I thought you were dead too."_

_Will squeezed Nico's hand. "I… I'm not. I'm alive, Nico. I'm here."_

.

They learned death had a name that day. Jason, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Hecate, Apollo, Austin, Kayla…

Nico wasn't sure what the final death count was. He didn't want to know. He ate another seed. He only had two more left after this.

* * *

**A/N: The promised flashback! ****Also, I suck at writing romance so... SOLANGELO! Boom. Done. Kinda just threw that one in there. Like, oh! Where did that come from? Not the hopeless Solangelo shipper writing this story. When Nico walked across the green to where Will Solace was waiting, my life ended. Also Hidden Oracle. They were just too cute, omg love Solangelo.**  
**My favorite line this chapter would have to be: "I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know. Before we all die," he added unnecessarily.**  
**Oh, Nico!**


	12. Predestination (Percy XII)

The fact that they couldn't avoid the Shrimpzilla attack really ticked Percy off. Really, the fact that they couldn't avoid _anything_ they should have been able to avoid.

Leo did not fire on the Romans, but still there were problems with the ship causing them to have to stop to repair the ship. Leo and Hazel ran into Nemesis and Narcissus still. Okay. Percy could roll with that. Nothing too bad. At least Nico's threat held good with the eidolons and Percy hadn't been forced to fight Jason to the death.

Instead, they reached Atlanta and _still_ had to deal with Keto and Phorcys. Plus, Frank decided to swipe the Chinese Handcuff and upon seeing them Annabeth just about cut Frank's head off much to the alarm of everyone on the Argo II (though, Coach Hedge might have been please, Percy thought privately). The only reason they ended up going was because _some people_ couldn't accept that the map they needed was in Charleston. Yes, he was looking at Jason and Frank. But he was _hoping_ to escape _before_ Phorcys captured them. No such luck.

"I told you it was in Charleston!" Percy gasped for breath as he, Frank, and Coach Hedge made it back to the Argo II. "I told you guys, but no!"

Jason and Frank winced and rubbed their necks. "Sorry, Percy."

"_Sorry, Percy_," Percy mimicked. He grumbled. "This whole thing sucks!"

Okay, so it wasn't really that bad, Percy had to admit. Things like the nymphaeum or Tartarus were bad things Percy really wanted to avoid.

Much to Annabeth's and probably Piper's relief, the two girls and Hazel did not have to visit Aphrodite. Instead, Annabeth went alone to Fort Sumter to retrieve the map. Percy was not happy with this having been told Annabeth first was surrounded by spiders.

The third day of this ridiculous quest, Annabeth enlisted Jason to carry Nico to the infirmary where Will Solace would undoubtedly fix up the son of Hades. Percy complained that even unconscious he still wasn't Nico's type. Annabeth just laughed and left with Jason.

Only hours later, Will freaking Solace pops out of the shadows courtesy of Nico, and lays it on them that Nico has been captured by the twins. Again. So that was cool. Not.

As if that wasn't enough, the very next day, Shrimpzilla had to attack. Leo, Hazel, and Frank visited Camp Fish-Blood and brought back those delicious brownies. And of course a letter of intro to the Tiber River god.

"The fish-centaurs said Nico has less than two days!" Hazel finally blurted. "They said we had to rescue him because he's essential to the quest."

Will froze. Percy could help but grin. They just couldn't help but fall into the awkward will they won't they phase apparently.

"Right," Percy said, trying to keep a level voice. "Okay, so I know where the twins are keeping Nico. When we get to Rome, Annabeth can go off to find the statue, I'll take Jason and Piper to get Nico, and then Frank, Hazel, and Leo will go get all Leo's Archemides stuff. Will… I dunno where you'll go yet."

Leo's jaw dropped. "Archemides? You never said anything about that!"

"Well now I am," Percy shrugged. "Okay, so we have one day till we absolutely have to know what the prophecy means."

"_Twins snuff out the angel's light_," Piper recited. She glanced at Will. "I think Will being the_ angel's light_ makes sense. He should go with us when we rescue Nico."

Will nodded fervently. "I am absolutely going to help save Nico. Besides, obviously Percy knows what kind of a state he was in and judging by that grimace I just saw, it was bad. Nico will need his doctor there."

"You're a doctor?" Hazel asked with surprise.

Will gave her a sheepish grin. "Kinda? I'm working on getting certified. I mean, I do an online class every few months and stuff." He shrugged. "I'm a son of Apollo. I just naturally have a healing talent. Like, I just know how to fix a broken arm or treat an ear infection and stuff." His smile widened. "If I wanted to, I could totally give flu shots blindfolded!"

"Remind me not to see you during flu shot season," Leo muttered.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Okay. So Will's the light. Great. Why is he being snuffed out?"

"No use speculating," Jason said, shaking his head. "It could mean a number of things. We need to focus on the other line. _Who holds the key to saviors' plight_. We know that the saviors are Percy and Annabeth and their plight is their fall into Tartarus to close the Doors of Death."

Frank frowned. "By this logic, Will should know what they need to do." He peered at Will. "Do you?"

"Not really," Will said quietly. "I'm really sorry. I wish I could help more, but… I'm not a hero like you guys. I'm the guy that makes sure the heroes are healthy and healing from all the injuries."

"And if you put any of us in front of a bleeding body, we would panic," Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "You remain calm and fix it in no time flat. You _are_ a hero, Will. Not all heroes wear capes. Or," she laughed, "in this case, have magic pen or coin swords. Not all heroes can use their voice as a weapon. Not all heroes can look at their troops and formulate a battle plan. Not all heroes can shift into different animals. But all heroes save lives. We could stand here all day comparing ourselves to other heroes and make claims about how they're better than us, but that would be a waste of time. We are all important and we all have a part to play, yeah? So let's get to Rome and save our friend."

"We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning," Leo said. He fiddled with the controls. "Then spend the rest of the day sailing to Rome."

Jason stopped eating his brownie. "Which puts us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. I mean, I know Percy knows where Nico is, but still. That makes me nervous. We have exactly twenty-four hours to find and save him. Not good. No room for error."

"We can do it," Percy assured him with a nervous smile.

Hazel shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not really liking that we know you and Annabeth are supposed to fall into Tartarus if we don't figure out another way. We shouldn't give up. Tartarus, well, you two obviously know more than I do, but there is a reason it's where all the tormented souls and monsters go."

"I don't like it either," Jason agreed. "Someone else could do it. _I'll_ go in your place."

"Not happening," Annabeth said firmly. "Like we said. Percy and I know the way. Besides, if we do end up going, Percy's the only one who knows Bob."

"And we're on much better terms than the first time," Percy agreed. "Nico took me to visit Bob a few times before I disappeared." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, we need to focus on what we're facing tomorrow. Hercules and Chrysaor."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "Chrysaor. Is there any way we can avoid him?"

"I don't think so," Will said shaking his head. "So far, you haven't been able to avoid anything, right? That's probably because time wills it to happen." He looked at Annabeth. "Surely you must know this."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Time travel paradoxes. Of course! We can't change certain events because they're fixed points, right? So far, all we've managed to stop was the Roman's declaring war on the Greeks. But we almost didn't. Despite Nico's suggestion to use iron, Leo still got possessed by the eidolon. It's the predestination paradox."

"So basically what you're saying is that everything is going to happen because it has to happen?" Piper asked, raised eyebrows.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. There was a Twilight Zone episode about this one. A girl went back in time to kill Hitler, but she ended up being the reason he exists in the first place." A pause. Then the realization sunk in. "Oh my gods. If we came back to stop Gaea, are we going to be the reason she doesn't… oh gods." Annabeth's hands flew to her mouth.

"The prophecy wouldn't have changed if that was the case," Percy said shaking his head.

Leo raised a hand. "Uh, there was a different prophecy?"

"_Wisdom's daughter walks alone / The Mark of Athena burns through Rome / Twins snuff out the angel's breath / Who holds the key to endless death / The giants' bane stands gold and pale / Won through pain from a woven jail_," Percy recited. "Last time, the prophecy talked about Nico's death trance which was the endless death thing."

"So some events are predetermined to happen," Frank noted. "Some we can stop."

Percy tried not to think too hard about what events might be unavoidable. Ever since the muck in Alaska, well, Percy was kinda terrified of water. The fact that he almost drowned in the muck twice didn't help. And if certain things were unavoidable, Percy sincerely hoped the nymphaeum was avoidable.

.

Percy didn't feel very apologetic when he voluntold Jason and Piper for the job of talking to Hercules. When Jason gave him a dirty look, Percy shrugged and said, "You two did it before."

Of course, when Jason and Piper returned to the ship as they fled as fast as Leo could steer the ship, Jason was still giving him a dirty look.

"You never said _not_ to mention Hera!" Jason snapped.

Percy blinked. "Huh? What does the bovine goddess have to do with anything?"

"Bovine-"

"She who shall not be named."

"Female Volde-"

"You know who."

"Volde-"

"Shut up!" Piper shouted. She must have put a ton of charmspeak into her words because Percy found himself unable to speak. She looked at Percy and Annabeth. "What next?"

"Monsters will probably be attacking nonstop," Annabeth shrugged. "No biggie, right?"

It was actually a biggie in Percy's humble opinion. Several times an hour, something attacked the ship. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and Jason blasted them with lightning. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.

"What was that for?" the coach demanded.

Finally around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Jason turned to him. "How about you get some sleep? I'll keep blasting stuff out of the sky as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for a while, and you can take point."

Percy mumbled something about that being what they did last time, but he did wander off down to his bunk. Unfortunately, his dreams were nightmares and they were anything but restful.

.

_He dreamed he was in a dark cavern. He could only see a few feet in front of him, but the space must have been vast. Water dripped from somewhere nearby, and the sound echoed off distant walls. He gulped in realization. Arachne's lair ._

_He heard heavy footsteps, and the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis shuffled out of the gloom. The giants stood in front of Percy, but they paid him no attention. Instead, they gazed up into the darkness._

_"We're here," Ephialtes announced. Despite his booming voice, his words dissipated in the cavern, echoing until they sounded small and insignificant._

_Far above, something answered, "Yes. I can see that. Those outfits are hard to miss."_

_The voice made Percy's stomach drop about six inches. It was definitely the monstrous spider his girlfriend was going to head off to fight soon._

_"Of course, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said. "We bring news of—"_

_"Why are you dressed like that?" asked Arachne._

_Ephialtes shot his brother an irritated look. "My brother was supposed to wear something different. Unfortunately—"_

_"You said I was the knife thrower today," Otis protested._

_"I said I was the knife thrower! You were supposed to be the magician! Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship. You don't want to hear us arguing. We came as you requested, to bring you news. The ship is approaching."_

_"How long?" she asked._

_"They should land in Rome shortly after daybreak, I think," Ephialtes said. "Of course, they'll have to get past the golden boy." He sneered._

Chrysaor_, Percy recalled._

_"I hope they arrive safely," Her Ladyship said. "It would spoil our fun to have them captured too soon. Are your preparations made?"_

_"Yes, Your Ladyship." Otis stepped forward, and the cavern trembled. A crack appeared under Otis's left snake._

_"Careful, you dolt!" Her Ladyship snarled. "Do you want to return to Tartarus the hard way?"_

_Otis scrambled back, his face slack with terror. Percy's heart beat rapidly. He remembered the chasm in Arachne's lair. He was glad he weighed nothing in his dreams._

_"There is little left holding this place together," Her Ladyship cautioned. "Except, of course, my own skill. Centuries of Athena's rage can only be contained so well, and the great Earth Mother churns below us in her sleep. Between those two forces, well…my nest has quite eroded. We must hope this child of Athena proves to be a worthy victim. She may be my last plaything."_

_Ephialtes gulped. He kept his eyes on the crack in the floor. "Soon it will not matter, Your Ladyship. Gaea will rise, and we all will be rewarded. You will no longer have to guard this place, or keep your works hidden."_

_"Perhaps," said the voice in the dark. "But I will miss the sweetness of my revenge. We have worked well together over the centuries, have we not?"_

_The twins bowed._

_"Uh, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said nervously. "I would remind you that Gaea wishes the girl to be taken alive. You can torment her. Drive her insane. Whatever you wish, of course. But her blood must be spilt on the ancient stones."_

_Her Ladyship hissed. "Others could be used for that purpose."_

_"Y-yes," Ephialtes said. "But this girl is preferred. And the boy—the son of Poseidon. You can see why those two would be most suited for the task."_

_Percy winced. Stupid nosebleed. This time, he hoped Gaea would not spill his blood, but there was no way to guarantee it._

_"We will see," Her Ladyship grumbled. "Leave me now. Tend to your own preparations. You will have your spectacle. And I…I will work in darkness."_

.

The dream dissolved, and Percy woke with a start. Jason was knocking at his open doorway.

"We've set down in the water," he said, looking utterly exhausted. "Your turn."

"No, no!" Percy yelped, jumping to his feet. "Chrysaor! This is when we meet him! Pull up!" he shouted, running out onto the deck. "Leo, pull up!"

Leo jumped. He looked back at Percy in confusion. "What?"

"Pull up!" Percy screamed.

Leo wasted no time. He yanked the controls and the ship tilted upwards at a steep angle. Shouts of confusion and shock came from below. When Leo finally leveled the ship, he raised an eyebrow at Percy.

Percy ignored him. "We're not far from the Italian coast. Maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the Tiber? I can't tell for sure anymore since we're not in the water."

"Chrysaor?" Jason managed to ask. He looked like he had been holding onto the railing for dear life. Percy doubted the guy had any strength left in him after fighting the monsters off all night. "Who's that again?"

"My half-brother," Percy answered. "You aren't the only one with a horrible one."

Jason managed a grimace. Then he stumbled as the ship hit something.

"Oh man," Percy sighed.

* * *

**A/N: ****Gotta love those time travel paradoxes.**

**This was my lil explanation on how this time travel thingy works. Hope ya like and understand.**


	13. Everybody Hates Percy's Plans(JasonXIII)

**A/N: You should know that recognizable sections of this story have come from the Lost Hero, the Son of Neptune, and the Mark of Athena. So, yeah. I don't actually own those sections. Rick Riordan does. Yeah. Okay. On with the story.**

* * *

They spent the next hours after defeating Chrysaor together. Jason didn't know if he wanted to protest some more or just carry on having a good time with his friends.

Annabeth seemed very nonchalant for a girl who was about to face down the queen of spiders in a few hours. Not to mention possibly fall to Tartarus for the second time.

Percy smiled and laughed along with Annabeth as they recounted some of their past quests.

Jason marveled at all they had done. Returning the master bolt to Zeus, finding the Golden Fleece, holding the weight of the sky, navigating the Labyrinth, gaining Achilles' Curse, and the Battle of Manhattan.

He shook his head. How the Greeks had managed to hold off a full scale invasion of the Titan army was amazing. Even the Romans had struggled with their attack in the West. If he had been in Percy's shoes… Jason no doubt would have been terrified. Which, Percy admitted he was scared the whole time, so Jason did feel a little better about that.

When they arrived in Rome, everyone fell silent.

"I guess this is it," Will was the first to speak.

Annabeth and Percy finally started to look unsure.

"You got this, Wise Girl," Percy assured her. He gave her a soft smile and held her hands. "You can outsmart her again. You're going to go and prove you're the greatest child of Athena. You are going to find the Athena Parthenos twice."

Annabeth laughed. "Second time is cheating."

"Second time is not cheating," Percy denied. "The first time was like… a trial run. The second time is the real one."

"Okay," Annabeth mumbled. She kissed Percy lightly. "Love you. Remember where you have to go?"

"Yeah," Percy answered. "Love you too."

Jason watched them with a pained look. They shouldn't have to go through this again. It wasn't fair.

Will gave Annabeth a med kit. "I tried to prepare for everything you said," he told her. "There should be more than enough for you in the cavern. Anything extra can be used if you… you know."

Annabeth took the kit with a grateful look. "Thanks, Will. I appreciate this." She put the kit in her bag. "Don't let Nico die on us, okay?"

"I don't plan on letting that happen anytime soon," Will promised.

"You're a really good friend to him," Annabeth said with a smile. "I'm glad you became friends much earlier this time."

Piper sniffled. "Annabeth, this sounds like a goodbye."

"I have to say it," Annabeth interrupted her. "Just in case. Please." She looked at Jason. "You be good to Nico too. You're like his big brother."

Percy grumbled something too lowly for Jason to hear, but Annabeth laughed. "Get over it, Percy."

Hazel hugged Annabeth tightly. "Good luck, Annabeth. We'll be waiting for you."

"I'll come back," Annabeth said, but Jason didn't think it sounded very convincing.

Finally, all the goodbyes had been said. Annabeth took a deep breath before walking out of the Argo II. She turned around to wave at her friends.

"Now what?" Jason asked Percy.

Percy frowned. "Uh, last time Frank, Hazel, and Leo left to like detect Nico or something. You guys should probably do that again. I dunno what you did, but whatever you did worked and stuff." He waved his hands at them. "Go on. Shoo shoo."

Hazel scowled at him. "We aren't dogs, Percy." She grabbed her spatha and looked at the two boys. "Ready?"

Percy shoved backpacks at them. "Take these. You might need them."

"I hate this plan," Frank mumbled as he followed Hazel and Leo off the Argo II.

Percy gave Jason, Piper, and Will a grim look. "Our journey is… complicated. There's a nymphaeum we have to go through to get to Nico."

Piper pointed in the direction the other three demigods had gone in. "Uh, Percy? Didn't you send Leo, Hazel, and Frank to find Nico?"

"No, I sent Hazel and Frank with Leo to find Archimedes stuff," Percy corrected. "I dunno, Leo can do, like, a ton of stuff with what he found." He shrugged. "It's useful in the future. Come on. Let's go meet these nasty nymphs."

Jason found himself siding with Frank. He hated this plan.

.

It really sucked. Percy was decidedly crazy, Jason determined.

After the nymphaeum started filling with poison water, Percy calmly asked Piper to bring out her cornucopia. He said they had to concentrate on filling the poison water with clean water. Easier said than done though.

Regardless, they managed to do it and the nymphs rewarded them with the entrance to the giants' lair. So a great reward of course.

Several hundred feet later, they reached a turn in the tunnel. Percy held up his hand, signaling Jason and Piper to wait. He peeked around the corner.

"What is it?" Piper whispered.

"We're here," was all Percy said.

Jason, Piper, and Will exchanged nervous looks as Percy gestured for his friends to come forward and take a look.

About twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-size wooden cutout of a gladiator popped up from the floor. It clicked and whirred along a conveyor belt, got hooked on a rope, and ascended through a slot in the roof.

Jason murmured, "What the heck?"

Percy winced. "Ah, right. The twins kinda have a flair for theatrics and stuff."

They stepped inside. About a hundred yards away, they spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person.

"Look." Jason pointed it out to his friends.

Piper frowned. "That's too easy."

"Of course," Percy said.

"But we have no choice," Jason said. "We've got to save Nico."

"Yeah, but maybe without getting caught and stuff," Percy said as he started across the room.

They had made it about halfway to the bronze jar when the ceiling opened over them. A platform lowered. Standing on it like an actor, with one hand raised and his head high, was the purple-haired giant Ephialtes.

Ephialtes smiled at the demigods like he was really, really pleased to see them. "At last!" he bellowed. "So very happy! Honestly, I didn't think you'd make it past the nymphs, but it's so much better that you did. Much more entertaining. You're just in time for the main event!"

Jason and Piper closed ranks on either side of Percy. Will notched an arrow and aimed it at the giant. Ephialtes' eyes danced with a crazy light.

"We're here," Percy said, which sounded kind of obvious once he had said it. "Let our friend go."

"Of course!" Ephialtes said. "Though I fear he's a bit past his expiration date. Otis, where are you?" A stone's throw away, the floor opened, and the other giant rose on a platform. "Otis, finally!" his brother cried with glee. "You're not dressed the same as me! You're…" Ephialtes' expression turned to horror. "What are you wearing?"

Otis looked like the world's largest, grumpiest ballet dancer. He wore a skin-tight baby-blue leotard that Jason really wished left more to the imagination. The toes of his massive dancing slippers were cut away so that his snakes could protrude. A diamond tiara was nestled in his green, firecracker-braided hair. He looked glum and miserably uncomfortable, but he managed a dancer's bow, which couldn't have been easy with snake feet and a huge spear on his back.

"Gods and Titans!" Ephialtes yelled. "It's showtime! What are you thinking?"

"I didn't want to wear the gladiator outfit," Otis complained. "I still think a ballet would be perfect, you know, while Armageddon is going on." He raised his eyebrows hopefully at the demigods. "I have some extra costumes—"

"No!" Ephialtes snapped. The purple-haired giant faced Percy. He grinned so painfully, he looked like he was being electrocuted. "Please excuse my brother," he said. "His stage presence is awful, and he has no sense of style."

"Okay," Percy agreed. "Now, about our friend…"

"Oh, him," Ephialtes sneered. "We were going to let him finish dying in public, but he has no entertainment value. He's spent days curled up sleeping. What sort of spectacle is that? Otis, tip over the jar."

Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and Nico di Angelo spilled out. The sight of his deathly pale face and too skinny frame was terrifying.

"Nico!" Will shouted. He rushed over despite the other's warnings.

"Let us go," Piper said firmly, and Jason could hear the charmspeak in her voice. "That would be an incredible twist. And the entertainment value! You want that, right? And we could do dance moves as we escape."

Piper almost pulled it off, Jason decided as he watched the two twins contemplate her idea.

At last Ephialtes shook his head. "No…no, I'm afraid not. You see, my girl, I am the anti-Dionysus. I have a reputation to uphold. Dionysus thinks he knows parties? He's wrong! His revels are tame compared to what I can do. That old stunt we pulled, for instance, when we piled up mountains to reach Olympus—"

"I told you that would never work," Otis muttered.

"And the time my brother covered himself with meat and ran through an obstacle course of drakons—"

"You said Hephaestus-TV would show it during prime time," Otis said. "No one even saw me."

"Well, this spectacle will be even better," Ephialtes promised. "The Romans always wanted bread and circuses—food and entertainment! As we destroy their city, I will offer them both. Behold, a sample!"

Something dropped from the ceiling: a loaf of sandwich bread in a white plastic wrapper with red and yellow dots.

Percy picked it up. "Wonder bread?"

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Ephialtes' eyes danced with crazy excitement. "You can keep that loaf. I plan on distributing millions to the people of Rome as I obliterate them."

"Wonder bread is good," Otis admitted. "Though the Romans should dance for it."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jason could see Will helping Nico crawl out of the way. That was good at least.

"Maybe," Percy ventured, "you should bring our other friends here. You know, spectacular deaths…the more the merrier, right?"

"Hmm." Ephialtes fiddled with a button on his Hawaiian shirt. "No. It's really too late to change the choreography. But never fear. The circuses will be marvelous! Ah…not the modern sort of circus, mind you. That would require clowns, and I hate clowns."

"Everyone hates clowns," Otis said. "Even other clowns hate clowns."

"Exactly," his brother agreed. "But we have much better entertainment planned! The three of you will die in agony, up above, where all the gods and mortals can watch. But that's just the opening ceremony! In the old days, games went on for days or weeks. Our spectacle—the destruction of Rome—will go on for one full month until Gaea awakens."

"Wait," Jason said. "One month, and Gaea wakes up?" He cast an alarmed look at Percy who just looked cool as a cucumber with this revelation. Somehow, Percy and Annabeth failed to mention this tiny detail.

When Ephialtes confirmed this, Jason fought the urge to go over and strangle his two time traveling friends for leaving out such a crucial detail.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, what Percy muttered was something along the lines of "not his type". I'm sorry, but in my mind, Percy will always hold that over Nico's head.**

**And so it begins! What will happen next?**


	14. How to Save a Life (Will XIV)

**A/N: Recognizable sections belong to the Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will's heart stopped when Otis knocked over the bronze jar and Nico di Angelo spilled out. His face was pale and his clothes seemed way too loose.

"Nico!" he shouted, running to his friend.

"No, Will!" he heard Percy shout, but Will ignored him.

He slid down next to Nico. "Oh, gods, Nico. What happened to you?"

Percy, Jason, and Piper were busy keeping the giants occupied. Will was grateful for that at least. It gave him time to somewhat heal Nico and move him out of the way.

Will hummed a quick hymn to his father, and started to gently feed Nico some ambrosia. Nico groaned and started to push to his hands and knees.

"Will?" Nico mumbled, eyes half closed.

"Hey, Death Boy," Will grinned. "Let's get you out of here, yeah?"

Nico groaned again, but started crawling. Luckily, the giants hadn't noticed them yet.

"What the Hades!" Piper shouted.

Nico turned his head to look, but Will forced him to keep going away from the danger zone. When Will looked over his shoulder, he saw the giants in different spots, purple smoke fading. He assumed they must have teleported or something to that effect because there was no way they moved that fast and silent.

A growl behind them. Will jumped. Right behind him and Nico were two leopards. Will drew his bow. He aimed an arrow at them.

"Stay back," he said forcefully.

Piper appeared at Will's side. She aimed her cornucopia at the leopards. A pot roast shot out and flew over their heads. Almost immediately, the leopards took off after it.

"Thanks," Will said in relief.

Piper nodded, cocking her cornucopia like a gun.

"DUCK AND COVER!" Percy's shout rang above the noise of the battle.

Will and Piper dropped to the ground and Will pushed Nico down. A sound like a fiesta in the middle of an exploding gunpowder factory. Chunks of the ceiling collapsed, and cages unleashed their contents on the giants and demigods. Sandbags rained down on Piper, Will, and Nico. One of the bags caught Piper's shoulder.

"Piper!" Jason shouted.

"I've got her! She's fine!" Will yelled, waving Jason back to his fight with Otis.

"Look out!" Percy's voice exclaimed.

Will flinched, expecting something to happen, but it must have been Jason Percy was talking to because nothing happened. He quickly set to work healing Piper's shoulder.

Jason ran over a few moments later.

"Fine," Piper mumbled. "I'm fine."

Nico finally decided to sit up. He blinked slowly. "Sunshine? What are you doing here?"

Will rolled his eyes. "I'm going to kill you for shadow traveling me," he said darkly.

"I had to," Nico slurred. "Something about a prophecy or whatever." He was still blinking slowly, not fully comprehending what was going on. "Where are we?"

Will barely noticed as Percy and Jason rushed off to fight the giants again. He gave Nico a sympathetic look. "Uh, the twin giants' place. You've been in a bronze jar for days, Nico. I thought you were dead when one of the giants dumped you out."

As he said that, Will thought the ghost of a smile was on Nico's lips as if he was remembering something. Then it was gone, replaced with Nico's seemingly permanent frown.

"Not dead," Nico said. He sat up, eyes still slightly glazed. "Woah."

"Hey, come on, Nico," Will said, placing his hands on Nico's shoulders. "We're here to rescue you."

Nico was suddenly fully alert. He looked around wildly. "No, no! Will, you can't be here! Oh gods, where's Annabeth? Please tell me she didn't go off on her own."

"Calm down," Will snapped. Nico went silent. "Annabeth is going to find the Athena Parthenos. We are going to meet her once Percy and Jason defeat the giants." He had forgotten Piper was there until she cleared her throat and coughed loudly. "You have an injured shoulder," Will said firmly. "You aren't going to be fighting any giants until that's healed."

Suddenly, they disappeared in purple mist only to reappear in the emperor's box at the Colosseum. A man sat next to them. He had purple robes and golden laurels. Despite his formal Roman attire, Will could see khaki shorts under the robes and feet with sandals over white socks. In the man's hand was a staff with a pinecone at the top.

"This is a proper show!" the man's voice boomed.

Will glanced down at the arena and his eyes widened. Percy and Jason stood together facing the two giants.

"You're just going to sit there?" Percy shouted up.

"The demigod is right!" Ephialtes bellowed. "Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods."

The man smiled lazily. "Juno says she's assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Give me a reason to do more. Being a god has its privileges." He popped his soda can top, and the crowd cheered.

"Lord Bacchus," Nico mumbled.

Will did a double take. "Bacchus? As in-"

"Please don't," Bacchus said, holding up a hand. "I've had enough of the splitting headaches."

Nico groaned and put a hand to his head. "What is going on?"

Piper's shout of fear grabbed their attention. Will looked down hurriedly and saw Jason bleeding from a thin line down his chest. He had been kicked by one of the giants. To Will's utter disgust, Bacchus just kept munching on a bag of Doritos.

"Will!" Nico hissed. He pointed up.

"What?" Will asked, then he followed Nico's point.

A large shape was descending rapidly. The Argo II turned in the sky, presenting its port side, and green fire blazed from the ballista. Percy and Jason rolled away from the giants and into a trench just as an explosion rocked the Colosseum.

The Argo II extended its landing gear and settled on the arena floor. Leo stood at the helm, Hazel and Frank grinning at his side. Coach Hedge danced around the firing platform, pumping his fist in the air and yelling, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Percy turned to the emperor's box. "Well?" he yelled at Bacchus. "Was that entertaining enough for you, you winebreathed little—"

"No need for that." Suddenly the god was standing right next to Percy in the arena. "I have decided you are worthy partners for this combat."

"Partners?" Jason growled. "You did nothing!"

Bacchus walked to the edge of the lake. The water instantly drained, leaving an Otis-headed pile of mush. Bacchus picked his way to the bottom and looked up at the crowd. He raised his thyrsus.

The crowd jeered and hollered and pointed their thumbs down. Bacchus smacked Otis's head with his pinecone staff, and the giant pile of Otismeal disintegrated completely. Bacchus climbed out of the lake and strutted over to Ephialtes, who was still lying spread-eagled, overcooked and smoking. Again, Bacchus raised his thyrsus. Bacchus tapped the giant on the nose, and Ephialtes crumbled to ashes.

He grinned at the demigods. "That, my friends, is a show! And of course I did something. I killed two giants!"

"Come on!" Will said, waving Piper and Nico to follow him. He helped Nico stumbled down to their friends. They reached the group just as Bacchus disappeared into a cloud of purple mist that smelled of grape juice.

"Nico!" Percy exclaimed. He rushed over to hug the son of Hades, ignoring Nico's wince.

Will looked around. "Is it over? Are we going to get Annabeth now?"

Percy's smile faded. "Bacchus said my voyage may be a little harder than I expect."

"Oh gods," Piper whispered in horror. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Percy, please don't tell us that means what I think it means."

Nico's head swiveled between the two. "They know?"

"That you, Percy, and Annabeth time traveled?" Will asked. He snorted. "Yeah. We know."

Coach Hedge trotted up to Percy, with Hazel, Frank, and Leo close behind. "Was that Dionysus?" Hedge asked. "I love that guy!"

"I hate you, Percy," Leo muttered darkly. "What was that, huh? Setting us up to be followed by eidolons."

"Setting you up to find all that Archimedes stuff," Percy corrected. "I forgot you guys said eidolons showed up." He bit his lip. "Annabeth's still gone, then?"

"You said you know how to get there?" Leo asked.

Percy nodded. "Come on! We have to get there soon."

Will climbed aboard the Argo II with a growing sense of dread. Percy and Annabeth were destined to fall into Tartarus in less than an hour. When they had joked and talked that morning, the impending fall had seemed light years away. Now, faced with the actual moment, Will could hardly breath.

"You okay?" Nico asked hesitantly.

Will swallowed. "Fine."

* * *

**A/N: ****I like having Will in here. Just wanted a lil chapter with his take on the giants battle.**

**And now for the chapter we have all been waiting for. With they or won't they Tartarus style.**


	15. Impending (Hazel XV)

**A/N: Recognizable sections from the Mark of Athena**

* * *

"Emmanuel Building," Percy said once the ship was ready to go. "That's where we have to go."

Hazel tried to ignore the waves of anxiety she could see practically rolling off Percy. She wasn't doing so good herself.

Percy knelt next to Jason and Piper. "How's the shoulder?"

Piper smiled. "It'll heal. Both of you did great."

Jason elbowed Percy. "Not a bad team, you and me."

"Better than jousting in a Kansas cornfield," Percy agreed.

Jason frowned. "Uh, what?"

Percy grinned. "Nevermind."

"There it is!" Leo cried, pointing to his monitor. "Frank, you're amazing! I'm setting course."

Frank hunched his shoulders. "I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourist marked it on Google Maps."

Leo grinned at the others. "He reads Chinese."

"Just a tiny bit," Frank said.

"How cool is that?"

"Guys!" Hazel snapped. She crossed her arms. "This is serious! We have until we get there to figure out what to do."

"Please don't do this, Percy," Nico rasped. He was collapsed in a chair.

Hazel was stunned at how much her brother had changed in the few days he had been away. He'd always been pale since she knew him, but his skin looked even paler if possible. He was only in the jar for three or four days, so she couldn't imagine how he looked in his, Percy, and Annabeth's original timeline.

Percy sighed. "Nico. Unless you have a better plan-"

"Yes!" Nico shouted, but his voice cracked and faded. He doubled over and coughed. Will Solace handed him a cup of water. Once he was done, Nico cleared his throat. "I'll go. I can do it, Percy. Last time I was stupid, but I know I could do it. I'll figure out a way to get out, but-"

"You are not going," Percy said firmly. "Nico, you're an actual zombie right now. No way would you last a single second like this. Will would last longer than you." He crossed his arms. "Annabeth and I know what we signed up for when we volunteered to fall again. And yeah, it's going to really suck, but we can deal with that. We're already dealing with that." He smiled. "Hey, if you wanna help, tell the Hermes cabin to sacrifice some coolers or canned goods. We can pick those up when we stop by the altar."

Nico leaned his chin on his sword which was balanced with the point on the floor between his feet. He gave Percy a sad look.

"Oh," Percy grinned. "I almost forgot." He pointed dramatically to the empty cup of water Nico had used. "I thought water wasn't your type."

Nico let out a soft laugh. "It's not. It's that thing I wish I really didn't have to keep around."

Percy looked insulted, but seconds later his started laughing with Nico too.

Hazel blinked. "Why are you two just laughing right now? And what is so funny? I don't want to accept that Percy and Annabeth have to fall! So could you guys help me figure out a way to change this or not?"

"Nothing," Percy said, immediately sobering up. "Hazel. Somebody has to go. We have to close the doors."

"Why can't we just close the mortal side?" Hazel asked desperately. "That must have some effect!"

"The Doors have to be controlled on both sides to close," Nico said firmly. "It's like a double seal. All seven of you working together could defeat Gaea's forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades. But unless you had a team fighting simultaneously on the Tartarus side, a team powerful enough to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory like Percy and Annabeth, then it wouldn't do any good."

Hazel bit her lip. No. There had to be something they were missing. She went over the lines from the prophecy. _Wisdom's daughter walks alone / The Mark of Athena burns through Rome / Twins snuff out the angel's light / Who holds the key to saviors' plight / The giants' bane stands gold and pale / Won through pain from a woven jail._ Wisdom's daughter was Annabeth who went on her own quest alone. The Mark of Athena was pretty obvious. The twins were obviously the two twin giants. The angel's light was still up for debate on whether it meant Will or Nico. The saviors had to be Percy and Annabeth, and their plight was Tartarus. But the key was still unknown. The giants' bane obviously meant the Athena Parthenos, and the last line was how Annabeth defeated the giant spider waiting for her. What was the key either Will or Nico had?

"Look, Annabeth's smart," Percy continued. "She's going to cut the spider silk, so we won't be dragged in this time. We talked about it, and we decided that we're jumping on our own accord. No one's dragging us in or anything. We want to do it ourselves." His eyes turned hard. "All of you promise not to step in or do anything. Swear it."

Nico made a small noise. "No. _Oath to keep with a final breath_, Percy. Remember?"

Percy frowned. "You know what I mean. Don't swear on the Styx, but just… please don't do anything."

Hazel felt empty as she promised not to step in. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned into Frank who pulled her close.

* * *

**A/N: I definitely think Hazel would be the one who doesn't want to give up, and who wants to keep trying to figure out another way. You could argue Jason would be like that, but I think Jason is more of the throw himself in front of a train for someone rather than figure out another way.**

**Also, it kinda sucks copying and pasting from AO3. Like I typed the story in google docs, but then when I pasted it into AO3, I changed up some of the words and stuff. Anyway, it puts it into code form first then I have to delete it, paste it again, then it works, but my ****formatting**** doesn't save so I have to go through and re-italicize or underline stuff.**

**Next chapters will be up tomorrow. I think I'll put out 15 at a time or something.**


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